- Sputnik International
Russia
The latest news and stories from Russia. Stay tuned for updates and breaking news on defense, politics, economy and more.

Russia ready for fresh start in Estonia border talks - Lavrov

Subscribe

(adds Lavrov's statements, details in paragraphs 3-7)

MOSCOW, January 17 (RIA Novosti) - Russia was ready for a fresh start to border talks with Estonia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Tuesday, as long as negotiations are limited to the border issue itself.

"We are ready to resume border talks with Estonia on condition that we start from scratch and there will be no additional conditions," Lavrov told a Moscow news conference.

Lavrov said Russia had agreed to Estonia's proposal to sign a border treaty "with no political or other makeweights."

Russia had been forced to withdraw its signature from an original agreement, Lavrov said, because of the failure of the Estonian ratification process to keep to the original issue.

"We appreciate that the Estonian government passed the document exactly in the form it was signed in Moscow. What happened in the Estonian parliament is well known. The ratification law contained an unacceptable statement that put conditions on the agreements and contained irrelevant references," the minister said.

Lavrov said that the international legal regulation of border issues "very important," but said that Russia's lack of border treaties with Latvia and Estonia had created no problems with border operations.

The minister said at the same time that Russia would restart border talks with Latvia, again if the issue was discussed on a stand-alone basis. Latvian politicians have been keen to link the border settlement to a declaration from Russia that would admit Soviet aggression during the Second World War.

Newsfeed
0
To participate in the discussion
log in or register
loader
Chats
Заголовок открываемого материала