Black Sea Fleet to make Ukraine alter laws

05.03.2011 Russia and Ukraine will discuss re-armament process of Russian Black Sea Fleet, said Ukrainian defense minister Mikhail Yezhel at recent briefing, reports RBK.

He pointed out that Ukrainian legislation and bilateral agreements do not provide any tools for re-armament of Russia's Black Sea Fleet (BSF).

According to the minister, neither agreement of 1996 nor Ukrainian laws mention possibility of BSF re-armament. "Those documents say nothing about re-armament. So, this is a subject of negotiations between Ukraine and Russia", said Yezhel.

Recall that the session of security subcommittee of Russian-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission will be held on March 25 in Kiev; agenda includes about 10 matters regarding military cooperation of Russia and Ukraine. In particular, the countries are about to sign a new agreement on BSF re-armament. According to actual documents, re-armament of Russian Black Sea Fleet is possible only by Ukraine's approbation.