4
reach a final agreement on the fleet until 1997, the idea of dividing the fleet and allowing Russia
to maintain its fleet in Sevastopol, Crimea was agreed to in principle in 1992. Tough
negotiations, domestic electoral distractions, and President Yeltsin’s poor health delayed
resolution of the fleet’s status, but the terms of the final agreement were still favorable to Russia.
Russia cannot increase the size of its fleet in the Crimea, but it was granted the right to improve
the quality of the fleet by replacing old inventory and investing in the fleet’s infrastructure.
More importantly, the agreements contained no provisions for the gradual withdrawal of the
Russian fleet.
Russians have a strong sense of historical attachment to the Crimea and Sevastopol, the
home port of the Black Sea Fleet.
12
Catherine the Great founded the Black Sea Fleet in 1783 and
made Sevastopol its home port. As a result, the Crimea became the only region of Ukraine were
ethnic Russians constituted a majority. In 1954, Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev gave the
Crimea to the Ukrainian SSR as a symbol of the fraternal friendship between Russians and
Ukrainians, but most Russians refused to recognize Ukrainian sovereignty over Crimea, and
more importantly, Sevastopol. Still, why did Ukraine not immediately force Russia to withdraw
its fleet from Sevastopol? The decision to allow Russia to maintain its fleet in Sevastopol
constituted a violation of the constitutional prohibition against the stationing of foreign troops in
Ukraine. Moreover, there was still good reason to question the ability of the two navies to
coexist in the same area.
13
There was also the danger that the involvement of the Russian Black
Sea Fleet in a conflict other than with Ukraine would result in Ukraine itself coming under
attack.
14
Furthermore, allowing Russia to improve the quality of the Russian Black Sea Fleet
would also make it an even more inviting strategic military target. Finally, the conditions of the
agreement did little to diminish Russia’s historical claim to the city and the region. An
Convention