“We need to figure out why the country was ‘sold’ for $100”: Danilov comments on Kharkiv agreements

Ukraine isn't going to denounce the Kharkiv agreements. The decisions of the National Security and Defense Council on this document and the relevant proceedings of the Security Service of Ukraine are aimed at establishing the reasons for signing the Kharkiv agreements.

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov stated this in an interview with LB.ua.

"Where can you see we're denouncing these agreements? We say that we need to figure out why it happened and who took part in it; why the country was 'sold' for $100; why state interests were translated into some mythical $100 discount (on gas – ed.)," he said.

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council suggested that the Kharkiv agreements had been agreed upon before the election of Viktor Yanukovych as president. Danilov stressed that "such documents aren't written in one's lap, they're worked out in advance."

"They may have been agreed upon before it. For instance, we support you, you give us Sevastopol, and we'll tell people it's in exchange for a discount on gas. But it's still an assumption. We need to figure it out. In particular, why wasn't the decision of the National Security and Defense Council under Yushchenko implemented? The decision provided for the Cabinet to develop a draft law within two months, with its subsequent submission to the Verkhovna Rada; it formalized the procedure for the Russian Federation's withdrawal from Sevastopol. If the law had been passed, there would be other procedures," Oleksii Danilov stressed.

To recap, on March 11, the National Security and Defense Council made the decision due to which SBU would check the motivation of the deputies who had voted for the so-called Kharkiv agreements according to which Russia placed the fleet in the Crimea.

Following the meeting, the Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksii Danilov noted that the list for inspection included current people's deputies, oligarchs, and "a list of people who are very interesting to you."

What's known about the Kharkiv agreements? 

As you know, on April 21, 2010, the presidents of Ukraine and Russia Viktor Yanukovych and Dmitri Medvedev signed the so-called Kharkiv agreements, which provided for extending the presence of the Black Sea Fleet in Ukraine until 2042 in exchange for lower gas prices. After the occupation of Crimea, the State Duma of the Russian Federation unilaterally terminated these agreements.

The Verkhovna Rada ratified these agreements on April 27, 2010. There were 160 votes from the Party of Regions (out of 161 members of the faction), the entire Communist Party (27 people), 20 people's deputies of the Lytvyn Bloc (also the entire composition), 13 non-party members, including Inna Bohoslovska and Vasyl Kiseliov, 9 from the BYuT party (Tymoshenko opposed), 7 from NUNS.

On March 11, 2021, the National Security and Defense Council instructed the Security Service to study the circumstances of people's deputies of the sixth convocation voting for the Kharkiv agreements, and in case of confirming treason, to initiate criminal proceedings against them under Art. 111 of the CCU.

On March 12, the SBU launched a pre-trial investigation into the circumstances of the signing and Verkhovna Rada's 2010 ratification of the agreement on the stay of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine.

According to preliminary data of the investigation, the signing of this document led to an increase in the number of personnel of military formations and special services of the Russian Federation involved in the annexation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea territory.