Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Oleksandr Motsyk Tuesday denied that Ukraine had promised to withdraw its border troops from the Tuzla Island.

Russian media recently said Russia and Ukraine had reached an agreement that entails the retreat of Ukrainian troops from Tuzla.

Motsyk told the press that Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov, in his meeting with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych, emphasized that Russia decided to unilaterally discontinue construction work and urged Ukraine to withdraw its troops from Tuzla.

He said Ukraine was considering the Russian request of troops withdrawal.

Russian Foreign Ministers Igor Ivanov is scheduled to visit Kiev on Thursday to continue negotiations over the island with his Ukrainian counterpart, Motsyk added.

On Sept. 29, Russia started building a controversial sea dam from Russia's mainland toward Tuzla in the Kerch Strait that connects the Black and Azov Seas, straining its relations with Ukraine.

On Oct. 22, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma cut short a trip to Brazil and returned home seeking to cool the crisis. On the night of the same day, he made a telephone conversation with his Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss the issue.

Putin promised to ask the local government to stop building the dike. Two days later, Kasyanov and Yanukovych held a meeting in Moscow, agreeing to solve the dispute by negotiations.
 
Russia presses Ukraine over disputed border island 
 
Russian Prime Minster Mikhail Kasyanov hinted Tuesday that the Ukraine failed to fulfill its promise to withdraw border guards from an island that is the focus of a heated territorial dispute between the two countries.

Under a bilateral agreement, Ukraine should remove troops from the Tuzla Island in the Sea of Azov if Russia halts the construction of a dam, designed to link Russia's Krasnodar region to the island, Kasyanov said, according to Interfax news agency.

Kasyanov insisted that he reached the agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart Viktor Yanukovych Friday in Moscow, but the Ukrainian official has not made any open confirmation on the agreement yet.

Russia suspended the project Thursday after Ukraine's president took a trip to the island to inspect troops, which are still performing their duties up to now.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Markian Lubkivsky said Tuesday that Russia's suggestion (of withdrawal of troops) "is being considered now and an appropriate decision will be made," Interfax cited the official as reporting.

Ukraine considers the project a threat to its territory integrity although Russia claims that construction of the dam is aimed at curbing seashore erosion.

The ex-Soviet country also worries that the project might facilitate Russia to seize control over the Kerch Strait, a key shipping route between Tuzla and Ukraine's Crimea Peninsula.

Kasyanov noted that the agreement should be in effect until the two nations produce a final decision over the issue, adding that the Russian government is "monitoring and will monitor the observance of the agreement."

Foreign ministers of the two countries are scheduled to meet on October 30 in Kiev, capital city of Ukraine, to discuss issues related to the Azov Sea and Kerch Strait areas.

(Source: Xinhua News Agency October 29, 2003)