Russia is willing to open constructive dialogue with Ukraine and resolve certain "burning problems" that have been plaguing the relations between the two countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

At a meeting with acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Boris Tarasyuk who is on a visit here, Lavrov said the Russia-Ukraine relations are "not without their problems" and that a solution should be found to these problems "for the benefit of both countries."

In response, Tarasyuk said "many problems have been accumulated in the relations between our two countries. Our task, however, is to settle old problems and not to create new ones."

Tarasyuk said newly-appointed Ukrainian Prime Minister Yury Yekhanurov is planning to visit Moscow soon. He asked his Russian counterpart "to lay the groundwork for the visit."

Lavrov also announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to pay a visit to Ukraine soon.

Tarasyuk expressed the hope that the coming talks between the leaders of the two countries and the border talks scheduled for November would help solve some problems, including the border dispute, and that a border agreement would be signed.

Russia and Ukraine will hold a new round of border delimitation talks in Moscow in November.

The 22nd round of talks between the two countries over the delimitation of the state borders on the Black Sea and the Azov Sea took place in Kiev on Thursday, the Itar-Tass quoted a Foreign Ministry official as saying.

Source: Xinhua