Lavrov: Russia Never Considered Estonia an Enemy
Russia has never considered Estonia an enemy, said Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after signing a long-awaited border treaty with his Estonian counterpart Urmas Paet in Moscow on Tuesday.
Lavrov denied Estonia was an enemy to Russia at a joint press conference when asked by a ERR reporter whether Russia sees Estonia as a neighbor, a former fellow republic, or conversely, an enemy, ETV reported.
“To be honest, I’ve never heard anyone call Estonia an enemy," Lavrov told ERR’s Moscow correspondent Neeme Raud. "We see Estonia as the things you listed. Naturally, being neighbors and having so many common interests in the economy, culture and the arts, we are interested that our relations develop constructively and all issues that arise to be solved legally and fairly in a neighborly manner."
Lavrov will make an official visit to Estonia later this year - a first for a Russian foreign minister.
Subjects like relations between NATO and Russia and the European Union and Russia were also discussed at the press conference. Lavrov also brought up the issue of stateless people in Estonia and the reforms in schools with Russian as the language of instruction.