Moscow has no right to demand compensation from Ukraine under fleet accords …
The Russian Federation has no legal reason to unilaterally cancel the Kharkiv accords [on the presence of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine], said Ukraine’s interim justice minister Pavlo Petrenko.
“Russia’s statement on the unilateral denunciation of the Kharkiv agreements is, in fact, political speculation,” he said at a press briefing in Kyiv on Monday.
“The Russian prime minister’s claims that Russia is unilaterally severing this agreement and will try to get about $11 billion compensated are incorrect politically and legally,” he said.
From the legal point of view, “the Russian side is the party that has violated the agreement on the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s presence in Ukraine,” he continued. Given this, Russia has no grounds for demanding a compensation payment from Ukraine,” he said.
“Moreover, we will use the agreement on the Russian fleet’s presence in Ukraine as evidence that the Russian side has violated Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” he said.
“We did not receive any legal notification from the Russian side. I am convinced that Russia has no grounds for demanding a compensation payment in connection with the denunciation of the agreements,” Petrenko said.
Reports said earlier that Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on March 21 informed President Vladimir Putin that the Kharkiv agreements between Russia and Ukraine would be denounced and that it would be lawful to demand a compensation payment of $11 billion from Ukraine.