MOSCOW, Feb 18 (AFP) - Russia can keep its lease until 2017 for its Black Sea naval fleet at the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol, Ukraine's new Defense Minister Anatoly Hrytsenko said on Friday.
"In my view, Ukraine will not seek to review the timeframe for the Black Sea fleet's presence on our territory. I don't think Russia will either," the Interfax news agency quoted the defense minister as saying.
"When our current bilateral agreement runs out, this issue will be resolved in the interests of both our countries and taking into account cooperation with other states, and it will be resolved in a positive manner," he added.
Russia's Black Sea fleet is based in Sevastopol, a Crimean port city bordering the Black Sea under a lease granted to Moscow that runs until 2017.
Pro-West President Viktor Yushchenko, who was swept to power last month in this ex-Soviet republic after ousting the pro-Moscow regime, has made joining the European Union and the US-led NATO military alliance a strategic goal.
02/18/2005 15:34 GMT - AFP