News

On 23 July, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis discussed topical bilateral issues with Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov by telephone. The Ministers rejoiced over well developing Lithuanian-Russian bilateral relations. During the conversation, Ministers Antanas Valionis and Igor Ivanov stated that the issue of the Russian citizens’ transit to and from the Kaliningrad region was successfully solved and several technical difficulties on the first days after launching the new transit order were successfully overcome. Minister Valionis also referred to an increased flow of passengers in trains going to and from the Kaliningrad region after the introduction of the new transit order, as compared to the same period last year. 32 thousand passengers went by the trains during the period of 1-18 July this year, whereas approx. 39 thousand passengers - in whole July 2002. The Ministers discussed the possibility to exchange high-level visits to Vilnius and Moscow. Lithuanian Foreign Minister communicated to Igor Ivanov Lithuania’s concern regarding intentions of the company “Lukoil” to start exploiting the oilfield D-6 in the Baltic sea near the Curonian Spit and stressed that the reluctance of the relevant Russian institutions to cooperate with Lithuania in providing information on the ecological aspects of the field’s exploitation did not create a positive climate of the bilateral relations. Both Ministers agreed that consultations between Lithuanian and Russian ministries responsible for the environment protection should be held in order to solve this issue.