MOSCOW, September 1 (Itar-Tass) — Russia is ready to restart talks with Estonia on a new border treaty, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Saturday at a traditional meeting with students and teaching staff of Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO-University).
He recalled that the border treaty signed by the two countries back in 2005 “clearly stated that there should be no renewal of any territorial claims that Estonia had to the Russian Federation within the framework of the so-called Tartu Peace Treaty signed in the beginning of the 1920s.”
“Our Estonian counterparts assured that there will be no claims and that this treaty will close the border theme finally,” Lavrov said.
However, he emphasized when this treaty was submitted to the Baltic state’s parliament for ratification, the Tartu Treaty was mentioned in a ratification law in such a context that “maintains territorial claims to the Russian Federation.”
“Under these conditions we could not ratify this document revoking our signature from Estonia’s treaty,” he said. “Now we say we are ready to restart the talks, but without any surprises like those that happened in the Estonian parliament.”