Ukraine Parliament Allows Foreign Military Exercises

Sea Breeze 2008. Archive

KIEV, May 24 (RIA Novosti)

The Ukrainian parliament on Thursday approved the participation of foreign troops, including U.S. and Russian, in a series of international drills later this year.

Ukrainian legislation prohibits the presence of any foreign troops or bases on the country’s territory so foreign servicemen may only participate in such exercises under a special law adopted on a one-off basis.

In 2009, the Ukrainian-U.S. Sea Breeze exercise was canceled because the Ukrainian parliament refused to grant its approval.

Later this year, Ukraine is to host the Ukrainian-U.S. Rapid Trident 2012, Ukrainian-Russian Farvater Mira 2012 (Fairway of Peace 2012), Ukrainian-Belarusian-Russian Slavic Commonwealth 2012, and Ukrainian-U.S. Sea Breeze 2012 exercises.