Ambassador Petrov: Russia expecting reaction to announcement on border treaties ratification
According to its ambassador to Estonia, Alexander Petrov, Russia is expecting a reaction on the part of Estonia to the announcement of the chairman of the State Duma’s international affairs committee that the Russian-Estonian border treaties were to be ratified before the end of the year.
The statement by chairman of the State Duma Committee on International Affairs Leonid Slutsky had been a clear signal that Russia was ready, Petrov said in an interview with the office of Estonian member of the European Parliament Yana Toom (Center).
“It is now legitimate for us to expect a more specific reaction from the Estonian side,” Petrov went on. The ratification of the border treaties required a suitable atmosphere in bilateral relations. “Unfortunately, no noticeable shift in this regard has occurred to date, which has become an obstacle to the ratification,” Petrov added.
Slutsky said on Oct. 5 that the State Duma’s lower house would ratify the Estonian-Russian treaties on the land and maritime borders before the end of this year. The Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in its response that it expected real steps from the State Duma.
“Having the border treaties take effect is in the interest of both sides. The bill on the border treaties passed its first reading in the Riigikogu last fall already. We expect real steps from the new lineup of the Russian State Duma,” a spokesperson for the ministry told BNS on the same day.
Chairman of the Riigikogu’s Foreign Affairs Committee, Sven Mikser (SDE), took the same view, telling BNS that Estonia would follow the work of the new lineup of the State Duma
as well as the procedure of ratification of the border treaties closely, and react according to how things developed.
Editor: Editor: Dario Cavegn
Source: BNS