Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said on Thursday that Russia is not violating Ukraine's territorial integrity by building a dike from the Russian mainland to Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraine.

"Russia has respected and is respecting the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine," Ivanov said in Ukraine's capital city of Kiev. He was opening a working meeting with the Ukrainian authorities, held to find solutions to the island dispute.

The foreign minister also said that both countries share obligations to respect each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity in accordance with an inter-governmental agreement, an Interfax News Agency report said.

He noted that the bilateral relations were built on a solid legal foundation, which should serve as the basis for the two governments to resolve all arising disputes.

Ivanov suggested that Russia and Ukraine introduce a bilateral treaty on delimitation of ground borders, and to determine the status of the Tuzla Island and Kerch Strait issue.

Ivanov arrived in Kiev Thursday morning to negotiate with his Ukrainian counterpart, Kostiantyn Hryshchenko, over the island standoff.

The dispute started in late September, when Russia began to build a dike stretching from its Krasnodar region toward Tuzla Island, near the frontier with Ukraine on the Kerch Strait in the Azov Sea.

Russia has said the aim of the dike was to protect the ecological environment in that region. But Ukraine viewed the project as encroachment on its sovereignty and immediately sent border guards to Tuzla Island.

Last Thursday, Russia suspended the construction of the dike after Ukraine's president made a trip to the island to inspect troops.

And later last Friday, Russian Prime Minster Mikhail Kasyanov said he had reached an agreement with his Ukrainian counterpart, Viktor Yanukovych, at a meeting in Moscow. Under the agreement, Ukraine agreed to remove troops from the Tuzla Island if Russia halted the dike project, Kasyanov said.

But shortly before Ivanov's arrival in Kiev on this Thursday, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry disavowed the agreement over retreat of its border guards from the island. It said that Kiev was now considering the issue and further negotiations were needed between the two sides.

Ivanov said Russia was ready to maintain a positive dialogue on the problems and want to find solutions in the interests of both countries.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostiantyn Hryshchenko said the Azov-Kerch-Tuzla situation has become a current priority in the two countries' bilateral relations. His country was prepared to look for solutions to the problems that would meet the long-term interests of both countries.

"It is fundamentally important for Ukraine that Russia definitely confirms its obligation to observe Ukraine's territorial integrity," he said.

"We are willing to listen to and take into consideration Russia's reasons. It is important for us to lift the political tension from these issues," Hryshchenko added.

Ivanov was scheduled to hold talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yanukovych late Thursday and will return to Moscow on Friday morning.

In another development, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma said Thursday afternoon that his country would be guided by its national interests in settling the Tuzla territorial dispute.

He also said "Russia is and will be our strategic partner," and he still believed Ukraine and Russia "need each other" and "one should not make a tragedy" of the issue.

(Xinhua News Agency October 31, 2003)