Ukraine and Russia may soon sign agreements to regulate the movement of Russian Black Sea Fleet units outside of their bases and crossing of the Ukrainian border, Ukrainian Ambassador to Moscow Volodymyr Yelchenko said in an exclusive interview with Interfax-Ukraine.
“Draft agreements, which may be ready soon with a high degree of
probability, include an accord that regulates movement of Black Sea
Fleet units outside of places of their deployment and an agreement
linked with the crossing of the Ukrainian state border by Russian fleet
units,” he said.
“This is a rather difficult question,” Yelchenko said about customs
duties on commodities imported for the Russian fleet needs. “I would
like to note that basic agreements on the Russian Black Sea Fleet and
laws of our country do not envisage customs and tax benefits for Russian
cargo imported to Ukraine. The sides keep searching for a compromise
for the sake of the soonest settlement of the problem,” the Ukrainian
diplomat stressed.
He added that issues related to the presence of the Russian fleet in
Ukraine were being constantly discussed in the existing bilateral
negotiating formats.
