Ukraine approves demarcation of border with Russia

KIEV - The Ukrainian government on Wednesday approved a draft presidential decree on unilateral demarcation of its border with Russia.

Ukraine will unilaterally demarcate the Ukraine-Russia border and the government has been authorized to take related measures to implement the work, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers Ostap Semerak told a press conference.

State Border Guard Service said it is waiting for the presidential order to determine the functions and authorities of government departments in the process of demarcation.

This summer, the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council decided to recommend that the government unilaterally demarcate the Ukraine-Russia border citing threats to its national security.

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said delineating national border is a common mission of two neighboring countries according to international conventions and a unilateral border demarcation is not legally binding for the other part.

Ukraine and Russia now share a land border around 2,295 km.

Ukraine and the West have accused Russia of supporting Ukraine's pro-independence forces by sending large amounts of troops and heavy weapons into east Ukraine. Russia denies this.

In the past seven months, the unrest involving the rebels and Ukrainian forces in east Ukraine has killed more than 4,000 people, according to the United Nations.

The Ukrainian government and the rebels in Donetsk and Lugansk inked a ceasefire agreement on Sept. 5 in Minsk, capital of Belarus, at a meeting also attended by envoys from Russia and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe.

Frequent violations of the truce, however, have impaired its effect on alleviating the conflicts.

At least five people were killed and 17 others wounded during fighting in eastern Ukraine over the past day, Ukrainian officials said Wednesday.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said Wednesday that his government does not intend to hold direct talks with independence-seeking insurgents to de-escalate the crisis in eastern regions.

"We will not negotiate directly with the mercenaries. If you want peace then follow the Minsk agreement," Yatsenyuk told a cabinet meeting.

To pave the way for a peaceful solution to the conflict, Yatsenyuk proposed holding crisis talks in the Geneva format with the participation of Ukraine, Russia, the United States and the European Union.

The insurgents in eastern Ukraine have been long seeking direct negotiations with the government over the crisis, saying that talks without the participation of their leadership are "ineffective."

On Tuesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that all parties concerned should resume the Minsk-format discussions to end violence in eastern Ukraine.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday also urged all parties involved in the conflicts of eastern Ukraine to comply with the Minsk ceasefire agreement to defuse the crisis.