MOSCOW. Sept 17 (Interfax) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday argued that there are no serious sovereignty disputes between Russia and Ukraine over the Kerch Strait, which links the Sea of Azov to the Black Sea.
"In effect, we have no particular differences with Ukraine," Lavrov told a news conference after talks in Moscow with his Ukrainian counterpart, Kostyantyn Hryshchenko.
Both governments have the same goal - "we want both countries to make free use of the Kerch [Strait] and to jointly run their projects there - infrastructural, economic and so on," Lavrov said.
Moscow suggests three solution options, each of which is based on international precedents, he said.
Hryshchenko said the main point of friction are "different principles on what we are using as our point of departure."
Ukraine proposes restoring a line that divided the strait between the former Soviet republics of Ukraine and Russia. This would give a larger part of the strait to Ukraine than to Russia.
However, Hryshchenko said, Ukraine accepts a proposal for the strait to be used jointly by the two countries on an equal basis.
Ukraine also proposes adding a clause to the Ukrainian-Russian border demarcation treaty to prescribe that the consent of both Ukraine and Russia be necessary for the passage through the strait of military vessels belonging to third countries.
Lavrov said, however, that Russia does not believe the Soviet-era dividing line was an administrative border and thinks economic convenience was the only explanation for it.