Ukraine’s new pro-Russian President offered the Kremlin a chance to retain a base for its Black Sea Fleet on his first visit to Moscow yesterday. Viktor Yanukovych suggested that the fleet could stay in Crimea beyond 2017, when a 20-year lease is due to expire, overturning former President Yushchenko’s policy of ordering the Russians to leave. The fate of the fleet at the port of Sevastopol was a key issue in talks with President Medvedev at the Kremlin, as Mr Yanukovych sought to repair ties that were all but severed under his pro-Western predecessor.
“Very soon we will have an answer to this question that will satisfy both Ukraine and Russia,” Mr Yanukovych told a joint press conference.
Mr Medvedev said that the two sides would continue consultations, adding: “We spoke about sensitive aspects of our co-operation, including the presence of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in Sevastopol.”
A deal would be a significant coup for the Kremlin and evidence that it is drawing Ukraine back into its sphere of influence, after Mr Yanukovych ended the Orange Revolution era by defeating Yuliya Tymoshenko in last month’s presidential election. Mrs Tymoshenko, who was dismissed as Prime Minister on Wednesday, led the pro-Western revolution with Mr Yushchenko in 2004.
It could, however, spark a backlash among nationalists who are suspicious of Mr Yanukovych and voted overwhelmingly against him. Mr Yushchenko had warned that the fleet was a threat to Ukraine’s security, amid fears that the Kremlin could stir unrest in Crimea’s mostly pro-Russian population as a pretext for seizing the territory.
