MOSCOW, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - Ukraine assured Russia it would fulfill its commitment to lease a base in Sevastopol to Russia through 2017, a Ukrainian defense official said Monday. Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Anatoliy Kinakh told journalists after a meeting with a Russian parliamentary speaker that Ukraine did not contend the agreement's period of validity (up to 2017). The agreement on the status and conditions of the Russian Black See Fleet's stay in Ukraine was signed in May 1997. Basic agreements on the fleet took effect in July 1999. In March 2000, a number of additional agreements were signed.

The agreements envision that Russia leases a base in Sevastopol Ukraine for 20 years and has to pay $97.75 million annually to Ukraine.