An agreement to reopen the center may be signed in 2006, Ukrainian Defense Minister Anatoliy Hrytsenko told journalists in Moscow Tuesday, adding that the issue was not to be decided directly by the defense ministries.
Hrytsenko said a special Yushchenko-Putin subcommission would address the issue of where the Russian Black Sea fleet would be based.
"The defense ministries have done their job on the agreement," Hrytsenko said.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said a special subcommittee co-chaired by the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, as part of the presidents' subcommission, would work on the Russian Black Sea Fleet operations in the Crimea.
He added that the defense ministries would, however, be able to file their proposals with the subcommittee.
After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Russian Fleet's operations in Crimea became a disputed issue between the two countries. The Russian Black Sea Fleet's main base is in Sevastopol, Crimea. Russia signed an agreement with Ukraine in 1997 to lease the base until 2017, although disputed points remained. The two countries have continued negotiations, but Ukraine's ambition to join NATO seems to have complicated the process.
The Russian testing center in Feodosia is designed for missile firing exercises and includes firing ranges, technical workshops, measurement and communications stations, storage facilities, and docks.
