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EU, Russia Eye Visa-free Travel for Sochi Olympics

A European parliament member said on Tuesday the Sochi Olympics in 2014 could be a good time to cancel the visa regime between Russia and the EU completely or at least for the duration of the games.
© RIA Novosti. Vladimir Pesnia- Story
Russia, EU agree to ease further visas regulations
04:28 14/12/2011 BRUSSELS, December 14 (RIA Novosti)
Russia and the European Union have reached preliminary agreements on further simplifications of visas regulations, Russia's EU envoy Vladimir Chizhov said.
EC suggests easing border crossing with EU for Russia's Kaliningrad residents
16:52 29/07/2011 BRUSSELS, July 29 (RIA Novosti)
The European Commission proposed facilitating border crossings with Poland and Lithuania for residents of the Russian Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad, EC representative Michele Cercone said.
Diplomats expect progress on Russia, EU visa-free deal
06:51 12/07/2011 BRUSSELS, July 12 (RIA Novosti)
At their meeting on Tuesday, top Russian and European negotiators on bilateral visa-free travel agreements may finish the list of joint measures needed to mutually scrap visas.
Russia, EU to finalize visa-free travel plan next month - Medvedev
15:22 10/06/2011
Russia and the EU will finalize a stage-by-stage plan to lift the visa requirement within a month, President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday.
Russia, EU agree on five-year visas
17:55 01/06/2011
Russia and the European Union have reached an agreement on long-term visas, for up to five years, a Foreign Ministry official said on Wednesday.
Putin wants EU to ease visa rules with Russia
16:55 27/04/2011
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday Russia hopes the European Union will ease visa requirements for Russians in response to Russian moves on the issue.
Russia, EU may soon coordinate steps to scrap visas - diplomat
19:06 14/04/2011
Russia and the EU may agree a project of common measures to switch over to visa free regime during the coming weeks, Russia's envoy to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told Russia Today satellite TV channel.
Russia-EU visa-free regime plan "long overripe" - FM Lavrov
06:29 05/02/2011
Russia and the European Union should coordinate a plan to switch over to a visa-free regime as soon as possible, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday.
Russia, EU visa free breakthrough likely this year - Lavrov
13:08 13/01/2011
Russia and the European Union will move closer to introducing a mutual visa-free travel regime this year, the Russian foreign minister told a news conference on Thursday.
EU in 'no rush' to scrap visa regime with Russia - senator
15:22 27/12/2010
A senior Russian senator said on Monday the European Union is showing no rush to lift visa requirements for Russia despite Moscow's readiness for the move.
Medvedev urges business on scrapping Russia-EU visas
22:13 07/12/2010
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday called on the European business community to help scrap bilateral visa requirements between Russia and the EU.
Russia ready to work with EU on visa scrapping - Medvedev
10:35 01/12/2010
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev reiterated on Wednesday his country's readiness to scrap the visa regime with the EU.
Russia, EU to discuss visa-free regime at Brussels summit
13:54 29/11/2010
Russia and the European Union will discuss concrete steps aimed at scrapping the bilateral visa regime during a summit in Brussels on December 7, the head of the EU delegation to Russia said Monday.
Russia, Germany may set example for EU on easing of visa rules - Putin
21:40 26/11/2010
Russia and Germany may set an example for the EU on the issue of the simplification of visa formalities, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Friday.
Putin calls on EU to determine visa scrapping terms and schedule
12:41 25/11/2010
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in an interview with Germany's Suddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday called on the European Union (EU) to determine visa scrapping terms and schedule.
EU and Russia: An uphill road to visa-free travel
22:22 09/11/2010 RIA Novosti political commentator Andrei Fedyashin
Tarja Halonen, the president of modest, wealthy and friendly Finland, has arrived on a state visit to Russia. On November 9, she held talks with her Russian counterpart Dmitry Medvedev and will now depart for Kazan, where she will remain until November 11.
Finland supports visa-free travel between Russia, EU
15:27 09/11/2010
Finland supports the bilateral cancellation of visa requirements between Russia and the European Union, the country's president Tarja Halonen said on Tuesday.
Russia, Poland urge EU to abolish visas for Kaliningrad residents
19:41 28/10/2010
A Russian-Polish agreement introducing visa-free travel for residents of Russia's Baltic exclave of Kaliningrad is ready, but the EU is not eager to approve it, Poland's foreign minister said on Thursday.
Russia, Germany, France hope for EU visa talks progress
14:26 19/10/2010
The leaders of Russia, Germany and France on Tuesday issued a joint statement which paves the way for a visa-free regime between Russia and the European Union.
Russia may seek eased visa regime with some European states - official
01:59 14/10/2010
Russia may seek to ease visa regime with certain European countries if no progress is made in scrapping visa requirements for Russians, a foreign ministry representative in South Russia said.
Russia expects from EU clear answer on scrapping visas - Lavrov
15:35 25/09/2010
Russia expects from the European Union a clear answer on scrapping visas, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday to Rossiya 1 tv-channel.
Moscow decries lack of progress on visa-free travel with EU
18:26 13/09/2010
The transition to visa-free travel between Russia and the EU is being delayed to a point where it is becoming "indecent," Russia's foreign minister said on Monday.
Lavrov says Poland backs visa-free travel between Russia, EU
18:24 02/09/2010
Poland will support a draft agreement on abolishing the visa requirement between Russia and the EU, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday.
Putin seeks easier Russian-EU travel on road to visa-free regime (update 1)
13:14 01/09/2010
Traveling between Russia and the EU should be made as easy as possible as part of the transition to a visa-free regime, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
Luxembourg backs easing Russia-EU visa regime
16:11 24/08/2010
Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said on Tuesday the visa regime between Russia and the EU should be eased as soon as possible.
Berlusconi does not rule out end to visa regime between Russia, EU
19:16 23/07/2010
Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi said on Friday that the bilateral abolition of visas requirement between Russia and the EU was possible.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev is in Milan for talks with the Italian leader.
Finland to back Russia-EU visa-free regime bid - president
14:25 21/07/2010
Finland will back Russia's bid to scrap the visa regime with the European Union, Finnish President Tarja Halonen said on Wednesday.
OSCE countries have obligation to liberalize visa regimes - Lavrov
13:31 17/07/2010
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov called on participants of an informal meeting of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) not to hinder the process of visa regime liberalization.
Time is ripe for Russia - EU visa-free regime - Medvedev
15:04 15/07/2010
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that the time is ripe for scrapping the visa regime between Russia and EU.
Merkel promises to help push Russia-EU visa-free regime
11:46 15/07/2010
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday promised to assist with the possible introduction of visa-free regime between Russia and the EU.
Russia ready for visa-free regime with EU - Putin
16:09 30/06/2010
Russia is technologically prepared to introduce a visa-free regime with European Union, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.
Russia not to abolish visas for EU citizens unilaterally - Lavrov
09:54 11/06/2010
Moscow will not introduce a visa-free travel regime for EU citizens before the EU is ready to abolish visas for Russians, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said
Russian president expects activation of dialogue on visa-free travel with EU
16:44 05/06/2010
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expects activation of a dialogue on elimination of visas with EU.
No quick transfer to EU-Russia visa-free regime - EU official
17:54 02/06/2010
Russia should not expect a quick transition to a visa-free regime with the EU, the deputy head of the Delegation of the European Union to Russia said
Dmitry Medvedev – Russia ready to eliminate visas for EU citizens
10:21 02/06/2010
Russia has submitted a draft agreement to the European Union on scrapping the current visa requirements, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a news conference following the Russia-EU summit in Rostov-on-Don.

Medvedev urges EU to work with Russia on scrapping visa regime
16:09 01/06/2010
President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday urged Brussels to work with Moscow toward scrapping the visa regime between Russia and the European Union
Russia-EU 2010 summit to focus on new partnership pact, visas
05:01 30/05/2010
A new comprehensive Russia-EU partnership pact and visa-free regime will again be on the agenda of the Russian-EU summit to be held on May 31-June 1 in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don.
Russia seeks progress on visa-free travel at EU summit
13:30 28/05/2010
Russia hopes to see progress on setting up a visa-free travel regime with the European Union at the forthcoming Russia-EU summit, a deputy foreign minister said on Friday
Fading prospects for visa-free EU travel?
19:41 25/05/2010
The upcoming EU-Russia summit in Rostov-on-Don in southern Russia stands out for several reasons. The first of them is the extended readmission agreement, which will come into effect on June 1, the last day of this two-day summit. 
Russia, EU should accelerate creation of visa free regime - EU envoy
15:23 20/05/2010
Russia and the EU should speed up the process of abolishing visa requirements, the Russian envoy to the EU said on Thursday
Moscow to insist on scrapping EU-Russia visa regime at forthcoming summit - paper
13:23 20/05/2010
Moscow will insist on beginning substantive negotiations with Brussels to abolish its visa regime with the EU during the forthcoming EU-Russia summit, a Russian business daily said on Thursday
Russia ready to introduce visa-free regime with EU
13:39 19/05/2010
Russia is ready to introduce a visa-free regime with the European Union during the upcoming EU summit in the southern Russian city of Rostov-on-Don, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Wednesday.
Russia hopes to discuss visa-free deal with EU at summit
14:39 09/03/2010
The Russian Foreign Ministry hopes that Russia and the European Union will articulate their visions of a mutual visa-free regime during the forthcoming Russia-EU summit.
Russia's EU envoy says 'politics' hampering visa-free travel deal
12:35 26/02/2010
Talks on introducing visa-free travel between Russia and the European Union are hindered by political issues, Russia's EU envoy said on Friday.
Medvedev, EU "wise men" to discuss security, visas
06:25 09/02/2010
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Felipe Gonzalez, who chairs the EU group of "wise men," will discuss on Tuesday the situation around a European security treaty as well as Russia-EU visa issues, a Kremlin source said.
Italy may propose visa-free EU travel for Russia in 2010
12:58 09/12/2009
The Italian foreign minister has expressed support for visa-free travel to the EU for Russians in 2010, a Russian Foreign Ministry source said on Wednesday.
Russia's EU envoy says visa-free travel stymied by politics
10:40 18/11/2009
The introduction of visa-free travel between Russia and the European Union is being hampered by a "considerable political component" in the talks, Russia's EU envoy said on Wednesday.
Estonia votes against simplified visa procedure with Russia
21:02 10/02/2009Russia ready for visa-free regime with EU - Lavrov
14:10 10/12/2008Russia is ready to introduce a bilateral visa-free regime with the EU at any time, the Russian foreign minister said on Wednesday.

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Visa-free travel between Russia and the EU
The Kremlin has made visa-free travel between Russia and the European Union a foreign policy priority. President Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly declared Russia's readiness to scrap the visa regime with the EU.








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