Sergei Ivanov told Anatoliy Hrytsenko: "This is possible in principle." He added that there could also be other consequences in different fields.
According to Ivanov, who is also a deputy prime minister, every state has the sovereign right to decide to join an organization. However, the minister struck a note of caution saying Ukraine's potential membership in NATO was not purely a political matter but also concerned "the economy and a few other issues."
Ivanov announced that the subletting of a number of the Russian Black Sea Fleet's facilities would end in March 2006. "By March 1, 2006... the issue will be closed," he said. Hrytsenko hailed Russia's decision saying, "This is a positive sign for the Ukrainian government."
Hrytsenko denied that Ukraine would pay for Russian natural gas supplies with military hardware.
"The defense ministries of both counties did not hold [such] talks," he said.
The time for bartering has passed, Ivanov said, adding that no lists of Ukrainian weapons in exchange for Russian natural gas had been made.
He also said Russia would not pay European tariffs to lease the Black Sea following Russia's raising of natural gas prices. "The Black Sea Fleet's rent was established in 1997 and fixed in long-term intergovernmental agreements," the Russian defense minister said.
For the past five years, Russia has been selling natural gas to Ukraine for $50 per 1,000 cu m against the reference price of $80. During this period, European gas prices nearly doubled.
Now the market net back price for Ukraine is estimated at $160 per 1,000 cu m. However, Ukraine has been insisting that Russian gas supplies and transit be continued on the same terms as in 2005, despite earlier top-level agreements to move to European prices and tariffs.
The Russian Defense Ministry may reopen its weapons testing center in Feodosia in the Crimea, a Black Sea autonomy of Ukraine, and the relevant agreement may be signed in 2006, Hrytsenko said, adding that the issue was not to be decided directly by the defense ministries.
The testing center in Feodosia is designed for missile firing exercises and includes firing ranges, technical workshops, measurement and communications stations, storage facilities, and docks.
Hrytsenko said a special Yushchenko-Putin subcommission would address the issue of where the Russian Black Sea fleet would be based.
Ivanov said a special subcommittee co-chaired by the Russian and Ukrainian foreign ministers, as part of the presidents' subcommission, would address 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 an issue of dispute 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 sticking points remain. The two countries have continued negotiations, but Ukraine's ambition to join NATO seems to have complicated the process.
Ivanov also said that the two countries' experts would discuss the disposal of ammunition, armaments and military hardware in Kiev in December.
