The British Charge d'Affaires in Moscow has vowed to ease conditions for visa applications for Russians entering the UK.
The refusal rate for visa applications has been very low recently, and the issuing of UK visas will become much faster, Dennis Keefe told an investment forum in Moscow.
The issue will be particularly urgent next year, Keefe said, when London hosts the Olympic Games and expects an influx of visitors.
Russia has been pressing hard for a relaxation of visa arrangements with Britain, and has sought a bilateral visa-free regime with the whole of the European Union.
Last week, President Dmitry Medvedev described the situation with European visas as a “hangover from the past” and called for the eventual scrapping of EU-Russian visa requirements.
