Moscow mayor calls for treaty with Ukraine to be torn up
RIA-Novosti
Moscow, 1 July: Moscow mayor Yuriy Luzhkov has called for a cessation rather than an extension of the Russian-Ukrainian treaty of friendship and cooperation.
"We shall not accept the current course of events in Ukraine which runs completely counter to the 1998 treaty of friendship, cooperation and partnership," Luzhkov said at a meeting of a student backup Moscow government on Tuesday (1 July) in the course of a discussion of a comprehensive targeted programme of state policy regarding compatriots abroad.
"I am convinced that our country needs to take a decision to end this treaty rather than extend it," the mayor said.
At a recent celebration of the Black Sea Fleet's anniversary, Luzhkov said the question of Sevastopol's state affiliation remained unresolved, something that led to a deterioration of bilateral relations between Russia and Ukraine.
After these pronouncements, the Ukrainian authorities denied the Moscow mayor entry to Ukraine and Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko instructed the government to draw up a bill ending from 2017 the validity of the international treaties on the temporary presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet on Ukrainian territory.
On 4 June the State Duma passed a resolution which says the treaty of friendship, cooperation and partnership with Ukraine might be denounced if Ukraine joins NATO. The State Duma deputies regard as unfriendly the Ukrainian authorities' moves aimed at joining NATO.