MINSK, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and Ukraine have reached an agreement to start demarcating the disputed areas of the countries' shared border, Russia's foreign minister said Monday.
"We have agreed with Ukraine to go ahead with a demarcation of the border," Sergei Lavrov said
The former Soviet allies share a common land and sea border, and the main controversy has involved the latter. The disputed border runs through the Azov and Black seas and the Kerch Strait, which have considerable natural gas deposits.
Russia has suggested treating the seas as the two countries' internal waters, whereas Kiev has demanded their division.
A confrontation over the Tuzla Island in the Kerch Strait in the summer of 2003, when Russia attempted to build a dam there, led to accusations by Ukraine that Russia was encroaching on its territory.
