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I don't know if 1997 is history, but...

Article 4.1 of the 28 May 1997 "Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Status and Conditions for the Stay of the Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation in the Territory of Ukraine" reads as follows.

Russian original:

Общая численность личного состава, количество кораблей, судов, вооружений и военной техники Черноморского флота Российской Федерации, находящихся па территории Украины, не будут превышать уровни, определенные в Соглашении между Российской Федерацией и Украиной о параметрах раздела Черноморского флота от "28" мая 1997 года.

English translation by DeepL:

Total number of personnel, number of ships, vessels, weapons and military equipment of the Black Sea Fleet Russian Federation fleet stationed on the territory of Ukraine will not exceed the levels set out in the Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine Russian Federation and Ukraine on the parameters of the division of the Black Sea Fleet of 28 May 1997.

The "Parameters" Agreement appears to be the source for the claim that the Russian Federation had the right to dispose of some 20-25,000 military personnel on the Crimean peninsula during the events of February-March 2014. The claim has been made by Russian President Vladimir Putin (e.g. here) and CIA Director John Brennan (quoted here).

Can anyone help me locate a copy of the agreement? I've searched kremlin.ru and mid.ru without success. My broader interest is in the legality and legitimacy of the events in Crimea in February-March 2014.

Edit After posting this question I found the answer, which I added to the OP. I've now moved that to an answer below.

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  • Have you tried any web search engine? Even by the string 'Agreement between the Russian Federation and Ukraine on the Parameters of the Division of the Black Sea Fleet' you can find a link to an English translation in the first couple of the results.
    – d.k
    Dec 5, 2022 at 0:29
  • @DmitryKoroliov For me the first couple of Google results for that search string include the "Status and Conditions" Agreement but not the "Parameters" Agreement. As you see in my update to the OP, I have now found the text. I found it by Googling the Russian title, without quotation marks, which indeed I probably should have thought of doing before asking the question.
    – mjc
    Dec 5, 2022 at 0:32
  • 1. I think you are misrepresenting Brennan's position a bit. 2. Whatever the agreement was, from the international law standpoint, it was invalidated by Russian annexation of Crimea in March of 2014.
    – Moishe Kohan
    Dec 5, 2022 at 1:49
  • 2
    I’m voting to close this question because OP has found an answer that satisfies them.
    – Steve Bird
    Dec 5, 2022 at 7:06
  • 1
    That's more reason for a self-answer than a closure ...
    – Glorfindel
    Dec 5, 2022 at 19:12

1 Answer 1

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2

OP answering own question. I found the answer shortly after posting the question. As they say, properly formulating a question gets you half way to answering it.

The relevant passage seems to be the following.

Russian original:

Приложение 2. Перечень и параметры объектов Черноморского флота Российской Федерации в городе Севастополе [...] Итого в составе Черноморского флота Российской Федерации на территории Украины военнослужащих - 25 тыс. человек, включая 1987 человек в морской пехоте и морской авиации наземного базирования.

English translation by DeepL:

Annex 2. List and parameters of the Russian Federation Black Sea Fleet facilities in the city of Sevastopol [...] The Black Sea Fleet of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine has a total of 25,000 servicemen, including 1,987 men in the Marines and land-based naval aviation.

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