Ukraine’s FM: Yanukovych and Putin did not discuss Tuzla island question

"The question of Tuzla has not been even discussed in the negotiations over the years. The island’s being a Ukrainian territory has not been questioned," the Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Voloshyn said.

He added that during the negotiations between the Presidents of Ukraine and Russia concluded on Thursday, the maritime delimitation issue was discussed only, namely the limits of the Azov and Black Seas and the Kerch Strait.

In addition, the parties agreed on the exploitation order of the Kerch Strait.

However, the details of these agreements have not been yet reported to the FM of Ukraine.

The President of Ukraine Viktor Yanukovych and the Russian President Vladimir Putin signed the Joint Statement on Maritime Delimitation in the Black and Azov Seas and in the Kerch Strait, which notes that "the parties believe it is important to carry out the delimitation of maritime spaces in the Azov and Black Seas, as well as in the Kerch Strait in the spirit of friendship, good neighborliness and strategic partnership, taking into account the legitimate interests of both countries."

Putin stated that the Ukrainian and Russian governments are to agree on legal details and then to sign the agreement on delimitation of the Azov-Black Sea basin.

 

During the talks, the Ukrainian party insisted on keeping in the Kerch Strait the border with Russia, existed during the Soviet era, however it expressed willingness to compromise on economic issues.

The Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko said that the Ukrainian party offered to draw the border on the waters of the Kerch Strait, in accordance with the limits, which were recorded on the Soviet maps and determined the administrative border between the Ukrainian SSR and the RSFSR during the Soviet era. At the same time, during the negotiations, Ukraine did not reject the idea of a joint operation of the canal on a parity basis.

In turn, the Russian party was not satisfied with this approach, and urged that that administrative boundary existed on maps only visually and that division did not have any legal grounds.

During the negotiations, there was also expressed the idea of partition of the Kerch Strait in the so-called "areas of responsibility".