Ukraine`s
pro-Western president, Victor Yushchenko, has sided with Georgia and
moved last week to restrict Russian warships at the leased military
base at the Black Sea port of Sevastopol, saying the vessels` movements
were subject to Ukrainian approval.
Russian Foreign Minister
Sergey Lavrov dismissed that argument in a sharply worded barb Tuesday,
saying Russia`s ships don`t need any permission to use the port.
The
lease agreement says "nothing about us needing to explain to someone
why, where to and for how long the Black Sea Fleet ships are leaving
their walls," Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russia`s state-controlled
ITAR-Tass news agency.
Ukraine`s Defense Ministry said it was
considering Russia`s request to allow four Russian warships to enter
Sevastopol on Wednesday, but declined further comment.
However,
Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohryzko sought to cool tensions, saying his
country wouldn`t physically prevent Russian ships from entering or
leaving the naval base.
Many Ukrainians worry that after dealing
with Georgia, the Russians might set their sights on Ukraine, which
like Georgia is a former Soviet republic government that has angered by
Moscow by seeking closer ties with the West and membership in the NATO
military alliance.
Russia`s critics say the conflict in Georgia
heralds a new, worrying era in which an increasingly assertive Kremlin
has shown itself ready to resort to military force outside its borders
in pursuing its goals.
Many Ukrainians fear the Kremlin`s fierce
opposition to Ukraine`s drive to join NATO and Moscow`s desire to
regain control of the palm-lined Crimea peninsula and the Sevastopol
naval base might put Ukraine at a risk of a military conflict with its
giant neighbor.
Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has warned Ukraine that
it still isn`t too late to return "what doesn`t belong to it" — a
reference to Crimea.
Ukraine is also important to Russia because
its pipelines carry Russian oil and natural gas westward. The country
also has a huge Russian-speaking population in its east and south that
wants to remain linked with Russia.
While siding with Georgia,
Ukrainian officials have acknowledged that Moscow`s quick military
victory exposed their nation`s own vulnerability.
"I think that
Russia is looking for a reason to have a serious conflict with
Ukraine," said Iryna Mezentseva, a 21-year-old secretary in Kyiv.
