Russia, Ukraine reach pact in sea border talks
June 5th, 2011 - 7:12 pm ICT by IANSMoscow, June 5 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Russia and Ukraine have reached a breakthrough in their talks on maritime border delimitation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Sunday.
“A qualitative breakthrough has been achieved on the issue of the Kerch Strait. We have reached fundamental understanding with the Ukrainian leadership on how to resolve this problem,” Lavrov said in an interview with Ekho Moskvy radio station.
The Ukrainian-Russian border in the Kerch Strait, which links the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea, remains undefined since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Ukraine unilaterally established a maritime border with Russia in the 1990s, saying it was based on the Soviet-era administrative border between the two republics.
Russia has repeatedly denied the existence of Soviet administrative borders and called for shared use of the Kerch Strait.
In 2003, a bitter dispute broke out between Russia and Ukraine over the Tuzla Island in the middle of the Kerch Strait, which came to a head when Russia tried to construct a spit connecting the island.
Ukraine accused Russia of encroaching on its territory.
–IANS/RIA Novosti
sd/mr
- Ukraine, Brazil talk on energy - Jan 24, 2012
- Refurbished aircraft carrier for India begins sea trials - Jun 08, 2012
- When Putin preached radio station on 'Freedom of Speech' - Jan 19, 2012
- Russia may evacuate personnel from Syria if attacked - Jul 29, 2012
- Russia denies supplying gunships to Syria - Jun 25, 2012
- West to have 80,000 cruise missiles by 2020: Russia - May 29, 2011
- Stalin grandson sues Moscow radio station - Mar 25, 2011
- Russian presidential envoy ready to meet Gaddafi - Jun 08, 2011
- Russia asks Ukraine to extradite Putin plot suspect - Mar 01, 2012
- Half of Russians want Lenin buried: Poll - Jun 14, 2012
- Russia, US may not agree on missile defence in Obama's tenure: US envoy - May 28, 2011
- Russia denies changing its stance on Syria - Jun 22, 2012
- Amnesty urges Russia to respect right to protest - Dec 09, 2011
- Russia to rent pilot training facilities in Ukraine - Oct 20, 2011
- Three held for killing Russian Santa Claus - Jan 03, 2012
Tags: 1990s, administrative border, bitter dispute, black sea, border talks, borders, collapse of the soviet union, delimitation, foreign minister, kerch strait, pact, radio station, republics, ria novosti russia, russian border, sea border, sea of azov, sergei lavrov, spit, tuzla island