Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko said she was firmly against the decree signed by President Viktor Yushchenko last month on restricting the movement of Russia's Black Sea fleet, describing this policy as "irresponsible."
"I am categorically against those decrees signed by the President on ... any forcible measures against the Black Sea Fleet," she said during the "Freedom of Speech" program on the ICTV channel Monday evening.
The decree has actually barred the Russian naval vessels from entering the waters of their stationing, Tymoshenko said.
"I want to ask how to ban (the entry of the Black Sea fleet vessels into their base)?" Tymoshenko said, hinting at the possibility of serious conflicts between Russia and Ukraine.
Tymoshenko urged the Ukrainian authorities to draw lessons from the bitter experience of Georgia.
"If we provoke the conflicts, someone will, as written in the statement of the European Parliament, give us a disproportional response," she said.
At a press conference early Monday, Tymoshenko also slammed Yushchenko's stance on the Russian Black Sea fleet, saying "treaties with Russia should be honored."
"The measures the president has taken against the Black Sea fleet, against any calm and peace, and against neighboring states, I believe, are absolutely harmful to the country's unity and its territorial integrity," Tymoshenko said.
Last month, Yushchenko signed a decree calling for tougher rules on Russian naval movements from the base in Sevastopol, as a response to the participation of Black Sea Fleet ships in Russian military operations in Georgia.
The move ratcheted up tensions between Russia and Ukraine, which gave political support to Tbilisi during Russia's military conflict with Georgia.
Russia has maintained its Black Sea Fleet base in Sevastopol since the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. The current Russian lease on the facility expires in 2017.
Source:Xinhua
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