KIEV (AFP) — Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko on Friday said he had requested urgent talks with Moscow on the Russian navy's use of a Ukrainian port as the base for its Black Sea fleet.
"I sent an urgent request to the Russian president through official channels to start negotiations... to regulate our relations during military actions like those seen at the start of August," Yushchenko said in a statement.
Yushchenko on Wednesday signed a decree imposing new restrictions on the Black Sea fleet, that was described by Russia's foreign ministry as an "anti-Russian step."
The decree included a requirement that the Black Sea fleet, which is based in the port of Sevastopol, seek the permission of Ukraine's armed forces "at least 72 hours prior to ships or aircraft crossing the Ukrainian border."
The announcement heightened fears that Ukraine, a close ally of Tbilisi, could be caught up in a conflict that has raged in recent days between Russia and Georgia.
On Thursday a Ukrainian official said the decree would require Moscow to ask permission before returning ships active off the coast of Georgia.
Russia's military on Sunday said it had sunk one Georgian naval vessel, while on Tuesday Georgia said Russia had sunk three Georgian coastguard ships.
Yushchenko has pursued a staunchly pro-Western course, like Georgia seeking membership of NATO, whose expansion Moscow strongly opposes.
Russia has maintained its historic Black Sea fleet base in Sevastopol since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 and the current Russian lease on the facility expires in 2017.
Russian politicians and military officials are strongly opposed to the prospect of closing the base or restrictions on its use.
The base is located on Ukraine's sensitive Crimea Peninsula, home to a large Russophone population with pro-Moscow sympathies, as well as some other ethnic groups.
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