Ukraine and Russia move on border delimitation (11/25/01)

Ukraine and Russia move on border delimitation

by Roman Woronowycz
Kyiv Press Bureau

KYIV - Ukraine moved to what should be the last step in what has become an inordinately long process in the delimitation of its borders when on November 15 it signed a protocol agreement on a common land border with Russia.

After nearly four years of negotiations, the two sides agreed on their common 1,925-kilometer boundary, which will be formalized after the two sides reach agreement on a marine boundary in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait. If and when that happens, Ukraine finally will have delineated land borders with all its neighbors.

The accord - which comes more than a decade after the two former Soviet republics became independent states - was announced at the 12th meeting of the Ukrainian-Russian Interstate Committee on Border Delineation in Sumy, Ukraine, located not far from the Russian border.

State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yurii Sergeyev said at a press conference there that no serious deals or compromises and that no large land exchanges had been made in reaching the agreement, according to the newspaper Den.

"In this case the discussions were only about straightening the lines of the border," explained Mr. Sergeyev.

He said requests of the local raions, towns and villages received overriding consideration in deciding how the new border would look. He underscored that this did not include their political preferences but merely geographical logistics.

Negotiations between the two sides have been agonizingly slow since 1998, when Russia finally agreed to sit down to discuss delimitation - after resisting it for years. A central reason for not dealing with the issue was that for Russia and many of its citizens another stark reminder that Ukraine's fortunes no longer were tied to Moscow was neither wanted nor needed. After negotiations finally began, most of the delays were found on the Russian side of the bilateral committee established to resolve border issues, which often interrupted and changed the negotiation schedule.

While the greatest portion of the work is now complete, the most painstaking part of the larger delimitation process, the division of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, remains ahead.

Russia has resisted any notion that the bodies of water should be physically divided up, maintaining that they should be held in common. For Moscow the matter of fishing and mineral rights remains key inasmuch as most of those natural resources found in the two waterways are on what would be the Ukrainian side.

Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Ihor Dolhov said on November 20 that recently the two sides have expressed a desire for more flexibility in moving forward on the last remaining issues. They have also agreed to elevate the discussions to higher governmental levels.

Both sides agree that the delimitation of the land border will not be signed until the marine border is agreed upon as well.

Whether that boundary will ever be physically demarcated is another unresolved issue. The Russian side has insisted - often vehemently - that it would not allow for a physical border between the two countries.

Mr. Dolhov said there has been no final determination on the matter, but sounded optimistic that eventually physical borders would be erected.

"When the proper agreements are signed and the conditions prepared, then demarcation will occur," explained Mr. Dolhov, who did not suggest when or how that might happen.

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