Russia plans to invest heavily in Sevastopol base - ambassador

bhramos

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Russia is planning to focus on the development of social and military infrastructure in the port of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, the Russian ambassador to Ukraine said on Sunday.

Russia's lease of the Black Sea Fleet's base in Sevastopol has been extended for 25 years after the current lease expires in 2017 in a deal simultaneously ratified by the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments in April. The lease may be further extended by five years.

"We must invest in the social infrastructure of the [Black Sea] fleet. It is necessary, I believe, to develop the coastal infrastructure [of the base] and seriously modernize its military hardware while investing in the city because it hosts the Black Sea Fleet," Mikhail Zurabov told reporters after a military parade in Sevastopol.

Russian President Dimitry Medvedev has already instructed the Russian Defense Ministry to prepare a plan within the next month for the development of the Sevastopol base, which plays a key role in ensuring Russia's presence in the Black Sea region and the Mediterranean.

Ukrainian opposition considers the presence of a Russian fleet in Crimea as a threat to national sovereignty and integrity of the country, while the majority of the population supports the extension of the lease as a catalyst for mutually beneficial cooperation between Kiev and Moscow.

SEVASTOPOL (Ukraine), May 9 (RIA Novosti)
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20100509/158943279.html

Is planing to set up a permanent base there???????
 

Armand2REP

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Is planing to set up a permanent base there???????
Russia considers Crimea to be sovereign Russian territory. They would declare war before they let it go, the answer to your question... yes.
 

bhramos

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But it is good news to the people of Crimea as the more RuN fund there, more jobs for locals around the base.........
 

Armand2REP

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But it is good news to the people of Crimea as the more RuN fund there, more jobs for locals around the base.........
It is good for the ethnic Russians. Russians already own all the private shipyards, and they only employ ethnic Rus. Any jobs they supply will go to them. The local minority of Ukrainians and Tatars hate it. Kyiv hates it as Russification takes place every day on the peninsula. Tatars are driven off their land, minorities left unemployed, Russian language takes precedence over Ukrainian. Pro Russian curriculum in the schools and all the propaganda that comes with Russia. It is not good for the national sovereignty of Ukraine.
 

nandu

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Russia will not use Sevastopol base to stage war - Medvedev

Russia has no plans to use a naval base in Ukraine's Crimea to stage attacks against other countries, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday.

Russia and Ukraine recently signed an agreement extending the lease on the Russian Black Sea Fleet base in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol for 25 years after the current lease expires in 2017.

Russian warships based in Sevastopol were used in a blockade of the Georgian coast during a brief war between Russia and Georgia over the former Georgian republic of South Ossetia in August 2008.

Answering a question posed by a Kiev University student on the possible use of the base to stage a war against Russia's neighbors, Medvedev said: "Russia will not do it. We are a peaceful country."

He said the system of international relations, which includes Russia's obligations under international conventions and the Helsinki Accords of 1975, were the best guarantees of preventing aggression between states.

"Would we defy international law? Certainly not, because it is not in Russia's interests," the Russian president said.

Medvedev reiterated on Tuesday that the presence of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol was important not only for Russia but also for Ukraine, Europe and NATO in general because it ensured stability and security in the region.

The president said the collapse of the Warsaw Pact in the late 1980s and early 1990s undermined the strategic balance of forces, which led to "tectonic changes on the political map of Europe," and many military conflicts in the region at the time.

"Therefore, the advantages of the presence of the Black Sea Fleet in Sevastopol are obvious for Russia, and, in my opinion, they are equally obvious for Ukraine and Europe because this way we preserve the established risk-sharing system," Medvedev said.

He added that Russia prioritized strategic stability when it offered Ukraine a natural gas discount worth $40 billion for the extension of the lease on the Black Sea Fleet base.

http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20100518/159064057.html
 

ahmedsid

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Russia wont attack any of it neighbour for sure, unless its blatantly attacked like in the Case of the Georgian War, and in that Case, I expect to see action from this base. The thing is that, Russia is in such a situation that it can fight without firing a single bullet, It has got a weapon of offense, Oil/Gas. It held Ukraine and Europe at ransom, and it can be done again at a larger scale if they want to, but then, its a double edged sword and Russia has to play its cards properly.
 

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