Russia has no intention to limit military cooperation with Ukraine - MP Ozerov
MOSCOW. March 20 (Interfax) - Moscow is not considering any sanctions on Ukraine, in particular, in the field of military-technological cooperation, in connection with the accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to Russia, Federation Council Defense and Security Committee Chairman Viktor Ozerov said.
"Russia has no intention of imposing sanctions on Ukraine, for instance on military-technological cooperation issues," he told military attaches of foreign embassies in Moscow on Wednesday.
The Federation Council "will complete the legal procedure of the entry of Crimea and Sevastopol into Russia on Friday, which will make them Russian lands de jure and de facto, and we will deal with the deployment of the armed forces on this territory," he said.
Some 25,000 Russian servicemen are stationed in Crimea and Sevastopol in line with the Black Sea Fleet agreement, Ozerov noted. "This number cannot be exceeded and any rumors that Russia has brought additional forces to Crimea are not true," he said.
Responding to an attache's question about the Crimean referendum, Ozerov stressed that the Russian presence in Crimea made it possible to avoid confrontations, violence and provocations staged by radicalized forces from Kyiv.
He emphasized that Russia remembered about the events, which happened in South Ossetia in 2008, in making its decisions about Crimea.
"The Federation Council permitted the chief of state within the limits of his powers to use the armed forces outside of the Russian territory but that appeared to be unnecessary. Nevertheless, we could not have allowed a situation in which our servicemen or Russian-speaking residents of the republic could die," Ozerov noted.
He also said that the parliament was considering the extension for five years of the maximum age of armed forces officers and generals.
"The bill has been passed at the State Duma and will be put on the agenda of a next session of the Federation Council. We have been working together with the Defense Ministry. The law will extend the period of officers' service by five years," he said.
