This is as it should be between two Slavic nations whose history is entwined over two thousand years. I am sure that America and NATO will do their utmost to sow mistrust between Russia and Ukraine, but they will fail because fools no longer rule Ukraine.

A very good move for both Russia and Ukraina!!! Russia and Ukraina should stick together in the decades (centuries) that follow, for they have always been so close.

This is a great pragmatic move by both countries. You see? This is how deals are made. This is how international politics work. You give some to receive some, and both sides end up happy. Not only that, they are chances of further deals in the future in other areas too - finance, investments, infrastructure, cultural exchanges, trade, etc... I wish the West would learn this kind of lesson. Too often, they impose deals on other countries that are one-sided.

Kihnu, you are so paranoid. EVERY comment you make is anti-American. Ukraine is its own country and it can do whatever it wants, i hope they read the fine print.

I wonder if Ukraine got a better lease price this time. They could certainly use the money. Also, it is high time the pipelines were modernized. Hopefully these deals will work to the good for both sides.

Sean: "you are so paranoid. EVERY comment you make is anti-American." Not paranoid at all, nor am I "anti-American". I have watched America kill over 2 million Vietnamese and poison their land with agent orange which leaves a harvest of deformed babies for Vietnam to deal with. I saw how president Bush lied to the American people to get them to support his invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. I have seen America kill over a million Iraqis and drive 4.5 million into refugee camps. I have seen the terror in the eyes of the Afghans and Iraqis who collect the dead bodies of their families killed by American troops or bombs. I have seen America defile Afghanistan and Iraq with her depleted uranium munitions and bombs. And, I have seen America meddle in the affairs of other nations. No, I am not paranoid at all, nor am I anti-American. I am just appalled and sad at what has happened to a once great nation that respected truth and valued human life. America has learned nothing from the horrible bloodshed of the 20th Century.

NATO and America set their sights on bringing the former USSR republics and Warsaw Pact nations under their influence by sponsoring and supporting various politicians and political movements (so-called "color revolutions") favorable to the West. Their prime targets were always Poland and Ukraine. NATO's and America's objective is to weaken the Russian Federation as much as they can. There has now been a setback to their plans in Ukraine and Poland; however, it would be extremely naive to believe that NATO and America will cease their meddling.

Great deal for both! There is not same eg.(not many endeed) enywhere in the world of two states who share almost everithing true history and are alike as Russia and Ukraine...Ukraine place is next to Russia by all means! This deal is huge plus(big money) for Ukraine-the very first step for better future ....Russia Black sea fleet is also Ukrainian navy-history facts show Fleet always act in Ukraine national intrest! Mr.Yanukovich will bring better future for all Ukraine citizens.I believe its just a begining-there is more to come...Russia was and always will be there for Ukraine! Ukraine and Russia are blood brothers-people of both states shall never ever forget that! Good luck to both...Thanke you!

Well said, Kihnu! If the "free press" of countries in the U.S-led alliance of global aggression were free to make such statements, their credibility would grow and so might their readership. But the press and other media are not free... To write as you do is not being "anti-American". Nor do your comments show "paranoia", or "self-hatred" or "conspiracy theory". These are terms of abuse that have been taught to American correspondents, and repeated by pseudo intellectuals, for the past four decades. They have passed their date of credibility. I have changed the parameters from "America" to "U.S.-led alliance" to convey the immensity of the undeclared wars waged by the U.S.and its allies against peoples since 1946. You have outlined the more recent outrages. The U.S. has coerced, bribed or terrorized nations from Africa to Australia, from Europe to South Korea, into these sordid and murderous alliances. And the process continues, now in Africa and Central Asia. These U.S.-led alliances always have a military basis or component. They are in continuous secret or overt action. They are always destructive power being unleashed against helpless peoples whose resources or geo-strategic position the U.S. covets. Diplomacy, especially in the current Russian style, represents civilized values. Now, as in the past, it confronts barbarism. Didn't George Bernard Shaw once say that the United States is the only country to have gone from primitivism to decadence without passing through a stage of civilization?