The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) will interrogate the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the VI convocation, who in 2010 voted for the ratification of the so-called “Kharkov agreements” containing the conditions for the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of the country Alexey Danilov told about it.
Corresponding decisions, in case of violations, will surely follow, he stressed.
“The deputies will be questioned about whether they received bribes for voting, whether they were coerced or threatened,” he said on March 12 on the Ukraine TV channel.
Danilov is sure that it is necessary to find out why and how the voting took place, which, according to him, still affects Ukraine.
On the eve of the SBU opened a criminal case against government officials for the preparation, signing and ratification of the “Kharkiv agreements” by the Verkhovna Rada in 2010.
It was noted that the main investigation department of the SBU began a pre-trial investigation into the fact of committing high treason from 2008 to 2010.
In particular, the circumstances of the preparation and signing of the “Agreement between Ukraine and the Russian Federation on the stay of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine until 2042” on April 21, 2010, compliance with the regulations and procedures during its approval by the deputies of the Rada are being investigated.
The ministry added that, according to preliminary information, the signing of the document “led to an increase in the number of personnel of military formations and special services of the Russian Federation involved in the annexation of the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea” (Ukraine rejects the reunification of Crimea with Russia and considers the peninsula its territory. – Ed.).
On March 11, Danilov said that the SBU was instructed to check the circumstances of the ratification of the “Kharkiv agreements”. According to him, a case under the article “Treason” can be initiated against the deputies who voted on this issue.
On June 22, 2020, Deputy Foreign Minister of Ukraine Vasily Bodnar said that Moscow should continue to pay money to Kiev for basing the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea.
In the spring of 2010, in Kharkov, Russia and Ukraine signed an agreement extending the stay of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine after 2017 by 25 years. Kiev in exchange for this received a discount on the purchase of Russian gas for $ 100 per 1,000 cubic meters. m. The agreements were ratified by the Verkhovna Rada, the decision was supported by 236 deputies.
Crimea returned to the Russian Federation in 2014 following a referendum in which the majority of the inhabitants of the peninsula voted for reunification.