The Ukrainian Parliament ratified on Tuesday a key agreement with Russia, setting out terms for the two countries to share the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait.

Under the agreement, the Azov Sea and the Kerch Strait that connects the Azov Sea and the Black Sea, are the common water territories of Ukraine and Russia. Ships from the two countries could freely pass through the water while the passage of foreign vessels should have the permission of both sides.

Russia and Ukraine were long locked in a dispute over the Azov Sea, which has busy shipping routes and rich fishing grounds. The tension soared last fall, when Russia started building a dike fromthe Russian mainland toward Ukraine's Tuzla Island, located in theKerch Strait.

Ukraine sent troops to the island to prevent the move called byUkrainian officials as a blatant land-grab, while Russian officials said they wanted to prevent erosion.

Fears of an armed confrontation had not faded out until the twocountries' leaders signed a common management agreement last December.

Ukrainian lawmakers on the same day also ratified an agreement creating a common economic zone with Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The plan on the zone, which includes a common tax code and a customs union ending trade tariffs, was signed by the presidents of the four former Soviet republics last year. Parliaments of the other three countries are expected to vote on the plan soon.

Under pressure from the opposition, which charged that the document would weaken the independence of Ukraine, Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma added a reservation provision to the document, stressing that Kiev would participate in the creation ofthe economic zone under its constitution.

Source: Xinhua