Russia, Ukraine continue talks on delimitation of Azov-Kerch water area

The Russian-Ukrainian talks on the delimitation of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait linking this sea with the Black Sea continued in Kiev on Wednesday. The problem has become vital when the Russian side started building of a dam in the direction of the Tuzla Spit which Ukraine considers its territory.

Moscow comes out for the soonest solution of the problem of the Azov-Kerch water area, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Viktor Kalyuzhny said opening the talks.

His Ukrainian counterpart Alexander Motsik was of the same opinion. According to him, Kiev comes out for the delimitation of the Azov Sea "into territorial waters of Ukraine and the Russian Federation".

Soviet times border between the two republics acquired the status of a state border after the collapse of the USSR, and the Tuzla Spit is "Ukraine's integral part," Motsik stressed.

The status of the Azov-Sea has been on the agenda of the Russian-Ukrainian talks for more than 7 years already. Unlike Kiev, Moscow comes out for the joint use of the Azov Sea water area and for the demarcation of its bottom.

The new round of talks in Kiev will last till Thursday.