While Russia is not going to withdraw its Black Sea Fleet from the Crimea, it will develop its own base in Novorossiysk, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with army division and brigade commanders on Wednesday.
"We are not going to pull out from the Crimea. There is every reason for that: we signed the relevant inter-state agreement with Ukraine, regarding the presence of our fleet in the Crimea," Putin said.
This agreement is "unique" in terms of the cost of the Black Sea Fleet presence in Ukraine, he said.
Under the document, Russia is capitalizing the gas discount towards the rental, he said. "We are talking about billions of dollars here," he said, adding that "no one pays (such rentals) to anyone anywhere."
"Nevertheless, we are considering the possibility of the Black Sea Fleet being based at Russian ports as well, which is why we allocated the necessary funding for the development of a base at Novorossiysk and will develop it," Putin said.
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