Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on...

The statement came during a joint press conference in Moscow after Medvedev"s meeting with his new Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych.

"We agreed... that all consultations based on the current agreements, which were signed in 1997, would continue," Medvedev said.

Yanukovych has pledged to move Ukraine away from the determinedly pro-Western stance of former President Viktor Yushchenko, who vowed that Russia would have to find a new main base for its Black Sea Fleet once the current deal expires in 2017.

MOSCOW, March 5 (RIA Novosti)