MOSCOW. Jan 25 (Interfax-AVN) - The deployment of the Russian Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine should be regulated by a law, Ukrainian Charge d' Affaires to Russia Leonid Osavolyuk told a news conference in Moscow on Wednesday.
"This problem is obvious today. A law needs to be adopted to regulate the presence of the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine," he said.
Control over the lighthouses at the center of the ongoing Russian-Ukrainian dispute was to be transferred to Ukraine in 1997, after the underlying agreements on the Black Sea Fleet's deployment in Ukraine were signed, he said.
A ban on the import of Ukrainian meat and dairy products to Russia is one of the major problems plaguing bilateral relations, the diplomat said. "Our opinion is that a solution to this problem will take a couple of months. Both countries are interested in settling it," he said.
Ukraine and Russia still have to reach an agreement on their borders in the Azov and Black Seas and the Kerch Strait, Osavolyuk said.
The two countries also plan to begin demarcating their land border and sign a readmission agreement this year, the charge d' affaires said.
There are no problems regarding the Russian language in Ukraine, and no questions have been raised over the status of the Crimean peninsula, either, he said.