Russia's Ambassador to Ukraine, Mikhail Zurabov, who was appointed last August but remained in Russia in protest against Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko's anti-Russian policies, will arrive in Kiev on January 25, Russia's charge d'affaires in Kiev said on Friday.
After the first round of the presidential elections in Ukraine, which Yushchenko lost with slightly over 5% of the vote, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered Zurabov to formally assume office in Kiev.
Earlier on Friday, Russian daily Kommersant said Moscow and Kiev could be plunged into a new diplomatic row with Ukraine's presidential administration, which is insisting the new Russian ambassador's credentials should not be accepted as they do not contain the name of the Ukrainian president, Viktor Yushchenko.
Ukraine's presidential administration said the absence of the president's name in Zurabov's documents is a "violation of all diplomatic norms" and an attempt "to humiliate" Yuschehnko, who is still president, Kommersant reported.
A deputy head of the presidential administration, Andriy Honcharuk, told the paper he "hopes Moscow will observe the rules."
Zurabov, a former health minister, can start performing his ambassadorial duties after the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry accepts his credentials, but will only become fully legitimate once he presents his credentials to the president.
Ukrainians will choose between opposition leader Viktor Yanukovych and Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko in a runoff election on February 7. Both candidates have vowed to improve relations with Russia.
A Russian Foreign Ministry official has indicated there are no strict rules obliging countries to indicate the president in their ambassadors' credentials, which are usually submitted to a president months after a new ambassador assumes the post.
Ties between the two ex-Soviet neighbors have been strained under Yushchnko over a host of issues, including gas pricing disputes, the pro-Western leader's drive to secure NATO and EU membership for Ukraine, Kiev's support for Tbilisi during and since the brief August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia.
KIEV, January 22 (RIA Novosti)
