KYIV－Kyiv said on Wednesday it was severing relations with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea after the DPRK recognized the independence of Donetsk and Lugansk in eastern Ukraine, media reported.

The DPRK's official Korean Central News Agency said on Thursday that Foreign Minister Choe Son-hui sent letters to her counterparts in both territories on Wednesday in which she recognized their independence. "In the letters, she… expressed the will to develop the state-to-state relations with those countries in the idea of independence, peace and friendship," the agency said.

In a statement, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry denounced the DPRK's decision as an attempt by Pyongyang to undermine the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine, and severed ties in response.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesman for China's Foreign Ministry, told a news conference on Thursday: "China's position on the Ukraine issue is consistent. We believe that disputes should be peacefully resolved in accordance with the purposes and principles of the UN Charter, and differences settled through negotiation to avoid further escalation of the situation."

A day earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the first meeting in weeks between Russia and Ukraine took "a critical step "toward ensuring Ukraine's Black Sea port exports could resume.

The United Nations chief said that "more technical work will now be needed" to reach an agreement, "but the momentum is clear… I'm encouraged. I'm optimistic, but it's not yet fully done". There was very substantive progress and a broad agreement in the talks held in Istanbul, said Guterres.

Turkey's Defense Minister Hulusi Akar said agreements would be signed when negotiators meet again in Istanbul next week.

Akar said that several technical issues, such as establishing a coordination center in Istanbul where representatives of all parties will be present, conducting joint controls at ports, and ensuring navigational safety on transfer routes, have been agreed upon.

Coordination center

Turkey would also set up a coordination center with Ukraine, Russia and the UN for grain exports.

Turkey, which controls maritime traffic to and from the Black Sea through its Bosporus Strait in Istanbul, has been playing a mediating role, seeking ways to establish a mechanism that will allow Ukraine to export its grains safely.

On trading routes to Kaliningrad, Lithuania will allow sanctioned Russian goods to transit its territory on their way to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave, its Foreign Ministry said on Wednesday, reversing its policy after new European Commission guidelines. But Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte said on Thursday that Lithuania will keep restrictions on Kaliningrad trade in place while it works out rules on how to resume the trade.

The European Union's executive said on Wednesday that sanctioned Russian goods could transit through the bloc's territory by rail, after tensions between Moscow and EU member Lithuania escalated over trade with Kaliningrad.

Agencies - Xinhua