Ukraine's security service said Monday Moscow mayor Yuri Luzhkov had been barred from entering the country after he said the port of Sevastopol did not belong to Ukraine.
Speaking in Sevastopol, base of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, on Sunday at a ceremony marking the 225th anniversary of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, Luzhkov said the city "was not among" areas transferred to Ukraine in 1954 and should be governed by Moscow, not Kiev.
He said he would pursue the matter with the Russian government and parliament, and suggested that an international court should decide on the city's status.
Ukraine's security service said Luzhkov ignored its warning against "actions that damage Ukraine's national interests and territorial integrity."
Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Vasyl Kyrilych on Monday called Luzhkov's remarks "a planned operation aimed at breaking the positive dynamics of Ukraine-Russian relations ... and open interference in Ukraine's internal affairs."
Kyrilych said Luzhkov's comments were not viewed by Kiev as Russia's official position and Ukraine expected the Russian authorities to denounce the Moscow mayor's remarks.
Crimea was transferred to Ukraine by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev in 1954, when Russia and Ukraine formed part of the Soviet Union.
The future of the fleet remains a bone of contention between Russia and Ukraine, whose relations have soured over Ukraine's ambition to join NATO.
Ukraine expects Russia to withdraw its navy from Ukrainian territory when the fleet's lease on Sevastopol expires in 2017.
Source:Xinhua
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