Russia has decided to stop using Ukrainian naval aviation training facility, which it has been renting to train its carrier pilots since 1997, the government said here Tuesday.
Ukraine said it was considering other options to determine the future use of its Nitka naval aviation training facility after Russia decided not to rent the site starting next year, Xinhua reported.
Ukrainian foreign ministry confirmed Tuesday Russia had officially informed Kiev of a decision to stop the use of the Nitka naval aviation training facility in Ukraine’s southern Crimea peninsula beginning 2014.
“Moscow’s decision was predictable for the Ukrainian side, as the Russian Federation has set up a similar facility on its territory,” said a ministry’s spokesperson here in a news briefing.
Nitka, which provides a base for naval pilots to practice their skills in taking off and landing on an aircraft carrier’s deck, was built during the Soviet-era.
Russia has been renting the site in line with the inter-governmental agreement signed between the two countries.