The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry opposed the denunciation by the Verkhovna Rada of the Kharkov agreements with the Russian Federation on the presence of the Black Sea Fleet in Crimea. This was announced on Monday, April 5, by the press secretary of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleg Nikolenko.
“Violation of the provisions of the agreement provides us with additional arguments in the event of possible consideration in international courts of the issues of bringing Russia to justice and compensation for losses for the occupation of Crimea,” he said in an interview with the online edition “Left Bank”.
According to him, it is necessary to take into account the very purpose of these agreements, which subordinate to the established rules the fact that Russian ships are in Crimea. Nikolenko stressed that the documents are also designed to prevent violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Earlier, on March 16, a bill was registered in the Verkhovna Rada, suggesting the recognition of the Kharkiv agreements as invalid. On the same day, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) conducted searches in the Verkhovna Rada, its committees, the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (NSDC) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It was these state bodies that participated in the preparation of these documents.
On March 13, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine Oleksiy Danilov warned that the SBU would interrogate the deputies of the Verkhovna Rada of the VI convocation, who in 2010 voted for the ratification of the Kharkiv agreements. The day before, the SBU opened a criminal case against all persons involved in the documents of the state authorities.
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.