Russian, Ukrainian presidents to consider Azov problem

Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet Ukrainian leader Leonid Kuchma Wednesday, the Russian president's spokesman Alexei Gromov reported. The meeting of the two leaders will be held before the CIS summit begins in Yalta, he remarked.

An official accompanying the Russian president in his Black Sea tour said the Azov problem would feature prominently on the agenda of the meeting.

In early September, Vladimir Putin said in an interview with the Russian media that the Azov Sea must be the internal sea shared by Russia and Ukraine.

According to the president, such an approach meets the two countries' interests.

As to the land border with Ukraine, the Russian president noted there were no problems in this area.

The talks are also focus on the formation of a common economic space of the four countries - Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and Kazakhstan.