KIEV, April 18 (RIA Novosti) - The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday approved a presidential decree allowing foreign troops to participate in a series of international drills in the country later this year.
Ukrainian laws prohibit the presence of any foreign troops or the deployment of foreign military bases on the country’s territory, so foreign troops are only allowed entry on a case-by-case basis under special legislation initiated by the president.
The Supreme Rada passed the president’s decree by 342 votes, while the required minimum was 226.
This year Ukraine is to host Ukrainian-Belarusian and Ukrainian-Russian air-defense drills, Farvater Mira 2013 (Fairway of Peace 2013) Ukrainian-Russian naval exercises, the Ukrainian-US Sea Breeze-2013 exercise, the Ukrainian-US Rapid Trident-2013 exercise and the Maple Arch 2013 multinational exercise.
In 2009, the Ukrainian-US Sea Breeze exercise had to be canceled because the Ukrainian parliament refused to approve it.
