You're reading: BYT-Batkivschyna demands cancellation of Kharkiv agreements

The BYT-Batkivschyna faction in the Ukrainian parliament has demanded that an agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory (the so-called Kharkiv agreements) be cancelled.

"The Kharkiv agreements signed at a villa of [Russian President Dmitry] Medvedev not only limited Ukraine’s sovereignty, but also strengthened Russia’s influence in Ukraine," the Batkivschyna Party’s press service quoted the faction’s deputy head, MP Olena Shustik, as saying on Wednesday.

"A year ago, the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs unanimously banned the adoption of a bill to ratify the agreement between Ukraine and Russia on the stationing of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory. Using the ‘transitional provisions’ that allow them to exist if international agreements are ratified by the Verkhovna Rada, the pro-government majority and [deputies who quit the opposition and joined the coalition] violated the rules of procedure, and ratified the ‘Russian benefits’ on April 27," she said.

The presidents or Russia and Ukraine, Dmitry Medvedev and Viktor Yanukovych, agreed in Kharkiv on April 21, 2010, that the Russian naval base in the Crimea would remain for another 25 years from 2017, when the existent agreement expired, and that stay might be extended further for a period of five years. The move followed a deal between Russia’s Gazprom and Ukraine’s Naftogaz about a 30% gas price discount for Ukraine.

The agreement was ratified by the Verkhovna Rada on April 27, 2010, amid deep-running tensions.