Upper house speaker on Tuzla spit situation

The situation around the Tuzla spit will be settled, Speaker of the Federation Council (upper house) Sergei Mironov said Monday after his talks with Speaker of Ukraine's Supreme Rada Vladimir Litvin.

We have every ground to expect solution to this issue, said the speaker of the Russian upper house. According to Mironov, "the necessary agreements will be achieved here, especially considering that the agreement on borders is currently being ratified." Vladimir Litvin in turn said that close people normally have to settle problems. "The problem of Tuzla, Kerch and Azov will be settled in the interests of our countries," he said.

The conflict between the two countries erupted after Russia began the construction of a dam connecting its Azov coast to the small island of Tuzla belonging to Ukraine. Moscow put down this construction to environmental considerations, while Kiev saw the situation as a border conflict.