3 Mar 2022 19:26

Ukraine, backed by UK, prepared to open 2 naval bases on coast of Black Sea and Sea of Azov - Russia's Naryshkin

MOSCOW. March 3 (Interfax) - Ukraine, backed by the United Kingdom, is preparing to open two naval bases on the coast of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, Director of Russia's Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) Sergei Naryshkin said.

"Preparations were underway with the support of the United Kingdom to launch two naval bases on the coast of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov. Work was ongoing to upgrade air navigation equipment at Ukrainian military airfields, a move that would have made it possible to accept the whole spectrum of the alliance's military-transport aircraft in the future," Naryshkin said in a statement published on the SVR website.

Washington and its allies "expedited preparations for Ukraine's admission to NATO, inventing semi-legal bypass routes for Kyiv that were meant to shorten the traditional path to membership in the alliance," he said.

"Under the disguise of training centers, which were also deployed in the eastern regions of Ukraine, Western forward military bases were de facto set up in the territory of this neighboring state," Naryshkin said.