Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko said on Wednesday his country is willing to make compromises to Russia over the border demarcation of the Azov Sea, in exchange for Moscow to clarify its stance on the disputed demarcation of the Kerch Strait.
   
"We are ready to compromise on the demarcation of the Azov Sea in exchange for a clear stance of Russia on the demarcation of the Kerch Strait," Yushchenko said while meeting with local communities.
   
But he did not elaborate on what kind of compromise Kiev is going to make.
   
Yushchenko recalled that during a recent meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, he proposed to set the settlement of the border demarcation dispute as one of top priorities in Ukraine-Russia relations in 2005.
   
The border demarcation includes the delimitation of the land border, and the border in the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait, he said.
   
Ukraine and Russia have been at odds over the border demarcation of the Kerch Strait after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union.
   
Tensions began to run high on Sept. 29, 2003 when Russia began to build a dike stretching from its southern mainland toward the Tuzla Island near the frontier with Ukraine on the Kerch Strait.
   
The crisis ended after Russia suspended the dam project and Ukraine agreed to withdraw its troops from the Tuzla island.
   
But the two sides have yet to reach agreement on the border demarcation despite hard bargaining in the past two years.
  
The Kerch Strait, 41 km in length, 4-15 km in width and 5-15 meters in depth, is not only a key shipping gateway between the Azov Sea and the Black Sea, but also rich in fishing resources.
   
The two countries have been divided over the border demarcation of the Kerch Strait, the Black Sea and the Azov Sea, haggling about where to draw a border line to divide the water areas.
   
Russia insisted on demarcating lines on the sea floor of the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait. But Ukraine preferred to draw the border line on the water surface in accordance with international laws.

(Xinhua News Agency May 6, 2005)