A court in the Crimean port of Sevastopol, where Russia's Black Sea Fleet is based, ruled earlier that the fleet surrender lighthouses and other property along the Crimean coast.
"We are urging the Ukrainian side to refrain from any action that could exacerbate the already complicated situation around navigation and hydrographic support facilities in the Black and Azov Seas, and to continue the search for solutions to outstanding problems exclusively through negotiations," Mikhail Kamynin said.
An agreement signed by Ukraine and Russia in 1997 divided the Soviet Black Sea Fleet, allowing the Russian Navy to remain in Sevastopol until 2017, at an annual rent of $93 million.
After Gazprom sought a significant increase in the price it charged Ukraine for Russian natural gas at the end of last year, Kiev threatened to increase the rent to $1.8 billion. It also demanded the Russian Navy surrender the lighthouses and other property, claiming they were not part of the fleet agreement.
