The rent Russia pays for a newly extended...

"The rent we are paying for our fleet base is high but it is not excessive. It is not excessive because we have a strategic partnership [with Ukraine]," Dmitry Medvedev said.

A deal, extending the lease on a Russian base in the Ukrainian port of Sevastopol for 25 years after the current lease expires in 2017, was ratified simultaneously by the Russian and Ukrainian parliaments on Tuesday. In return for the lease, which may be further extended by five years, Ukraine will receive a 30% discount on Russian natural gas.

"We hope such relations will continue forever; they are ancestral links. Such friendship should be accompanied by mutual support," Medvedev said, adding that the agreement is beneficial both for Moscow and Kiev.

Earlier in the day, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said the proposed price was too high.

"I would eat [Ukrainian President Viktor] Yanukovych and prime minister [Mykola Azarov] for such money. But this is not just a question

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