KIEV -- Ukraine and Russia, in a sign of improving relations, signed an agreement on Wednesday to create a single border guarded by a joint command.


"This is a political move aimed at bringing our two countries closer together," said General Andrei Nikolayev, head of the Russian Federal Border Service, who signed for Russia.


"The border between Ukraine and Russia is in fact a border between one nation but two independent states," local reporters present at the talks in Odessa quoted him as saying.


Nikolayev said the agreement, which takes effect immediately, was greatly speeded by the election last month of Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma, who favors closer ties with Russia.


The two former Soviet republics never had a proper border but, after Ukrainian independence in 1991, roads on the 2,500-kilometer stretch were guarded by separate sets of Ukrainian and Russian frontier posts.


Many people complained that the new borders, which appeared following the breakup of the Soviet Union, made it difficult to visit relatives on the other side and thousands started making money by smuggling scarce goods across the border.


A border dividing the two countries is nonetheless required to control organized crime and illegal migration, said the commander of the Ukrainian Border Troops, General Valery Hubenko, who signed for Ukraine.


"We acted on the order of both our presidents. This agreement will simplify the issue of crossing the border for citizens of both countries," Hubenko said.


Nikolayev said the border would be divided into sectors for which each country would take responsibility. Russian and Ukrainian border guards would take turns guarding sections.


"This is the first example in the world where a single border between two states is jointly guarded," he said.