Navy chief says Russia could have 100 warships in Ukraine

BISHKEK, May 30 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy commander said onFriday the Black Sea Fleet could increase the number of warships atits base in Sevastopol, in Ukraine's Crimea, to 100.
"The base agreement enables us to have up to 100 warships inthe Black Sea Fleet, compared to the current figure of only 35; wemay also have up to 25,000 personnel, while currently we only have11,000," Admiral Vladimir Vysotsky told reporters in Bishkek,the capital of Kyrgyzstan.
He said Russia needs the Black Sea Fleet to protect its nationalinterests.
"Russia has strategic interests in the world's oceans, and itwill defend them. We will be enlarging our presence."
"The Black Sea Fleet will remain in any event. And it will notsimply remain, but will develop," he said, adding that Russiadoes not intend to withdraw its fleet from Sevastopol before thebase agreement expires in 2017.
The Black Sea Fleet currently uses a range of naval facilities onthe Crimean peninsula under an agreement signed in 1997. UkrainianPresident Viktor Yushchenko recently ruled not to extend the leasefor Russia's Black Sea Fleet beyond May 28, 2017.
Frequent disputes have flared up between Russia and Ukraine overthe lease of the naval facilities on the Crimean peninsula. In thelatest row, Moscow Mayor Yury Luzhkov was barred from entering theformer Soviet republic over his vociferous calls for the disputedownership of a Russian naval base in Sevastopol to be transferredback to Russia.
Ukraine has been seeking NATO membership and EU integration eversince pro-Western President Yushchenko came to power on the back ofthe "orange revolution" in 2004.
Russia has repeatedly dismissed Ukraine's NATO bid as a violationof bilateral friendship agreements and said it will do all in itspower to prevent Ukraine from joining NATO.
Admiral Vysotsky arrived in Kyrgyzstan on Thursday to discuss theexpansion of military-technical cooperation and strengthening ofregional security with Kyrgyz top military officials.
Russia currently has 41 intergovernmental agreements withKyrgyzstan on security cooperation. Both countries are members ofthe two major regional security blocs in Central Asia - theCollective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO) and the ShanghaiCooperation Organization (SCO).