News

On 5 November, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Antanas Valionis received Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Russian Federation Yury Zubakov. At the meeting, Russian Ambassador Zubakov raised the issue of suspending the activities of the Information and Culture Centre of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria based in Lithuania. In response, Foreign Minister Valionis underscored that the Information and Culture Centre of the Chechen Republic Ichkeria operating in Lithuania is a public institution established and directed by Lithuanian citizen in accordance with the Lithuanian Law, while the prevailing trend of the Centre’s activities is a humanitarian one. During the conversation, Minister Valionis also reminded the Ambassador the Lithuanian request for legal assistance with regard to persons who took residence in Russia while being suspected of crimes committed in Lithuania. At the meeting, issues of transit to and from the Kaliningrad Region were discussed. During the discourse, a hope was expressed that the Summit of the European Union and Russia on 11 November would bring forward positive decisions satisfactory to all interested parties. The Ambassador noted that after 11 November Russia would be ready for bilateral consular consultations concerning development of the network of consulates, bilateral privileges of visa issuance and other consular issues. Russia would also be ready for negotiations on concluding a readmission agreement with Lithuania.