Ukraine’s foreign minister says he has prepared a bill stipulating that the Russian Black Sea fleet must leave a Ukrainian port when a lease agreement expires in 2017.
Ukrainian port when a lease agreement expires in 2017. The presence of Russian ships in the port of Sevastopol has become a sore point in already strained relations between the two exSoviet neighbors. Ukraine wants the ships out, while Russia is eager to continue renting the naval base and is offering to pay more. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko said on July 22 that the bill will soon be submitted to parliament.
The Russian Foreign Ministry critized the draft law saying it “prevents constructive negotiations on the issue from taking place.”
