KIEV, Dec. 26 - The recent visit by Russian State Secretary and Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin to Sevastopol is the first step towards the long-awaited inventory of the Black Sea Fleet, said Chief of the Ukrainian presidential secretariat Oleh Rybachuk.

"I welcome the Russian deputy foreign minister's visit as the first step towards a solution of this problem. It is the beginning of a serious dialog. The issue was raised long ago, and it is very logical that there is no politics or economics involved here," Rybachuk told a briefing in Kiev on Friday, Interfax-Ukraine reported.