What the Russians did last Thursday they never even permitted themselves during the notorious “Tuzla crisis.” Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement underlining that the legal status of Kosa Tuzla Island will remain indeterminate until the two states finally establish a maritime border. Translated from diplomatic language this means that Moscow has in fact declared its territorial claims to Kyiv. At least, this is the way some Ukrainian diplomats are interpreting the Russian move to The Day’s correspondent.
What sparked this new development in the “diplomatic war?” Ukraine’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced earlier that during the current round of talks on the Azov Sea-Kerch Strait problem Russia stated that “it recognizes the Ukrainian status of Kosa Tuzla Island situated in the Strait of Kerch and surrounding waters.” Ukraine expressed the hope that Russia would take the next step, i.e., recognize the existing line in the strait as the state border. This was the turning point of the talks. In principle, until now everyone has understood that Tuzla Island belongs to Ukraine. But negotiations with Russia have often shown that what is obvious to everyone else may not be so where Russia is concerned. The Day knows that Russian experts have repeatedly said behind the scenes that Tuzla is part of Ukraine, but every time Ukrainian negotiators officially raised this question, they heard in reply, “Why do you keep harping on this island? It’s yours! Everyone knows this.” Obviously, unambiguous statements were being issued precisely because the Ukrainian foreign ministry must have decided to make public what the Russians themselves were not calling into question behind closed doors. It seems to be quite clear why the Ukrainian side chose to publicize this information: if the Russians officially confirm what they have been saying behind closed doors, this would increase Ukraine’s bargaining power at subsequent negotiations. In all probability, the Ukrainian side’s mistake was that it failed to get this opinion recorded in the minutes and thus prevent a reaction similar to the one that emerged on Thursday.
Ukraine’s position on the state border line is well-known: it should be drawn along the administrative border line that existed in Soviet times. Russia opposes this, proposing various options that would prevent Ukraine from being the sole owner of the Kerch-Yenikal Canal (a practice quite in line with international maritime law, but one with which Moscow cannot agree). Moscow has been looking for other ways of unraveling the “borderline knot” in Ukrainian-Russian relations (it has even suggested absurd options that would lead to Ukrainian Tuzla ending up in Russian waters). It has been trying to persuade everyone that there was no administrative border in Soviet times, even though there are more than enough maps to prove this.
But this time Russia went too far. Even Ukrainian diplomats probably did not expect such negotiatory nihilism. “Naturally, until the entire set of problems concerning the Azov and Black Seas and the Strait of Kerch is settled, the legal status of Tuzla Island remains indeterminate, although Ukraine currently exercises jurisdiction over this territory,” declared the Russian foreign ministry. This declaration is extremely provocative and moronic, to put it rudely. It is tantamount to the Russians saying during the concluded land border talks now, fortunately, concluded: ‘Until the whole set of land delimitation problems is regulated, the legal status of Kyiv (or Lviv, Donetsk, etc.), remains indeterminate, although Ukraine currently exercises jurisdiction over this territory.’ How should we assess the statements about the Tuzla problems that the Russian foreign ministry has been issuing to this point? How should Ukraine proceed in this situation? Obviously, it is too late to avoid a confrontation. It is probably clear to everyone that the Russian leadership will never accept the Ukrainian status of the Kerch-Yenikal Canal (in reality, the Russians don’t need Tuzla at all, but its Ukrainian status will play a major role in drawing the borderline). Diplomatic circles are rife with rumors that Ukraine may unilaterally draw the maritime border, which is in compliance with international law, thus putting an end to empty talks with Russia that are a priori counterproductive. Nevertheless, Kyiv is still hoping that the two countries’ top leaders will reach a compromise. The next meeting between Vladimir Putin and Viktor Yushchenko will take place in August at a CIS summit in Kazan.
