UPDATE: Official: Kiev mulls no suspension of railway travel with Russia

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KIEV/MOSCOW, May 25 (PRIME) -- Ukraine’s government does not plan to suspend railway communication with Russia now, the country’s Minister of Infrastructure Vladimir Omelyan said on Thursday.

Kommersant business daily reported earlier citing sources in Kiev that Ukraine may suspend railway communication with Russia from July 1.

Omelyan said as quoted by Ukrainian news portal Obozrevatel: “Our government is not considering stopping railroad or bus communication between Ukraine and Russia at the moment.” He added that, in his opinion, all types of transportation between the countries should be halted.

Ukrainian news agency UNIAN reported that the National Security and Defense Council has not discussed suspension of railway communication between the states at its meetings.

Kommersant also reported that Russian Railways’ unwillingness to “suspend passenger shipping to Russia from the anti-terrorist operations zone, in particular from Donetsk, which violates Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity” will be used as a pretext for railway travel suspension.

According to the daily, there is a commuter train running between Donetsk and the Russian city of Taganrog. A spokesperson for Russian Railways denied the information saying that the company has no commuter trains traveling between Russian stations and Donetsk and that a commuter train from Taganrog runs to the Russian station of Uspenskaya.

State Administration of Railway Transport of Ukraine said that passenger trains between Russia and Ukraine are running in accordance with the schedule. There are nine passenger trains travelling between the countries at the moment, it said in a statement on its Web site.

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