Ukrainian President Viktor Yuschenko has said that there might be potential external threats of Crimea's secession from Ukraine, but that he sees no reasons for this coming from inside the country.
"There are no domestic reasons for this. The problem only arises when someone somehow plays the Crimea card. That is where a serious potential threat can arise," he said in an interview with the German news magazine Der Spiegel published on its official Web site on Monday.
Yuschenko also said that as the head of state, he hoped that the situation would not reach this stage.
"As president, I'm doing everything I can to prevent this," he said.
Yuschenko also commented on calls from Russians on the Crimean peninsula for Moscow to support secession - if necessary with a war against Ukraine's leadership.
"The situation's future development essentially depends on Russia. Back in 1993, the Russian parliament declared the port city of Sevastopol a Russian city. That was an official decision, which is still in effect. This resolution shows that there are powers that are out to destabilize the Crimea," he said.
He recalled that "there is a basic agreement and four amendments on the provisional stationing of the [Russian Black Sea] fleet with us."
"However, a large part of this agreement is not being respected. For instance, many of the areas utilized by the military are being improperly used - to build private villas. This all has to do with lawlessness and sloppiness. Or take the problem with the 134 lighthouses intended for navigational purposes that stand on our territory: Russia has simply taken control of these facilities. If they are truly all used for the fleet, then an agreement must be made with us concerning them," he said.
Yuschenko also expressed confidence that Ukraine should "monitor crew sizes and the number of ships, so that they cannot both simply be increased."
"No country with foreign military bases on its territory can forgo doing this, in the interests of its own security," he said.
