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.
"We have an agreement to compile a list of problems to be solved before introducing a visa-free regime. We expect to deal with those issues by the end of this year, or at least to be actively dealing with them," Sergei Lavrov said.
He added that scrapping the visa regime would be a test to prove that Russia and the EU have a strategic partnership.
"Scrapping visas as soon as possible is of crucial importance for strategic partners like Russia and the European Union," the Russian foreign minister said.
The Kremlin has made visa-free travel between Russia and the EU a foreign policy priority. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has repeatedly declared his country's readiness to scrap the visa regime with the EU.
However, the European Union has been deadlocked over the thorny issue amid concerns that a visa-free regime could lead to a rise in crime and illegal immigration.
MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti)
