Exploring cultures and communities – the slow way

In October 2003, there was an unlikely standoff between Russia and Ukraine in the Kerch Strait. The status of Tuzla Island had been the subject of discussions between the presidents of the two countries just five weeks earlier.

article summary —

In September 2003, back in the days when Kremlin press releases still referred to Ukraine as “Russia’s closest ally,” the presidents of the two countries, Leonid Kuchma and Vladimir Putin, met on Byriuchyi Island. Over a two-hour meeting, the two men shared lunch and a walk on the beach. It was a chance for an informal chat under blue skies.

The duo discussed a number of issues around the sovereignty of islands in the Sea of Azov and the Kerch Strait — at the time the Kyiv government was unnerved by Russian engineering work in the Kerch Strait which seemed designed to link the Russian Taman Peninsula with Tuzla Island, located in Ukrainian waters in the strait.


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About the authors

hidden europe

and manage hidden europe, a Berlin-based editorial bureau that supplies text and images to media across Europe. Together they edit hidden europe magazine. Nicky and Susanne are dedicated slow travellers. They delight in discovering the exotic in the everyday.

This article was published in hidden europe 60.