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Under the agreement, Russia leased the base of its Black Sea Naval Fleet in Sevastopol for 20 years - until 2017 President Viktor Yushchenko, who is a candidate in the 2010 presidential elections, has said that Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko is ready to allow extension of the agreement under which the Russian Black Sea naval fleet is based in the Crimea after the agreement expires in 2017 in order to secure the support of Russia.

Yushchenko was speaking during the "Big Politics" program on the Inter television channel on November 27.

According to Yuschenko, the Ukrainian Constitution states that there should be no foreign military bases on Ukrainian territory and the agreement with Russia stipulates that the presence of the Russian Black Sea naval fleet on Ukrainian territory should end on May 28, 2017.

"There is another opinion: can [the presence of the Russian Black Sea naval fleet] be extended? It can [if] Tymoshenko [becomes] president," Yuschenko said.

Yuschenko also said that Tymoshenko accepted the current conditions for supply of Russian natural gas to Ukraine, which he described as a capitulation, because she wanted to secure the support of Russia.

Yuschenko also said that Tymoshenko was ready to make concessions to Russia on the issue of Ukraine's accession to NATO.

As Ukrainian News earlier reported, Yuschenko recently said that he favored preservation of the Russian Black Sea Naval Fleet's presence on Ukrainian territory at the current level until the year 2017.

Ukraine and Russia signed the intergovernmental agreement under which the Russian Black Sea Naval Fleet is stationed on Ukrainian territory on May 28, 1997.

Under the agreement, Russia leased the base of its Black Sea Naval Fleet in Sevastopol for 20 years - until 2017. It annually writes off USD 97.75 million out of Ukraine's national debt to it as payment for the lease of the naval base.

Campaigning in the 2010 presidential elections began on October 19; the presidential elections are scheduled for January 17, 2010.