The Estonian delegation was led by Lembit Uibo, director-general of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' political department, and the Russian delegation by Sergey Belyayev, director-general of the Russian ministry's second European department, spokespeople for the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

In terms of Estonian-Russian bilateral relations, both sides agreed that cooperation has been good in several areas, such as culture, cross-border cooperation, the protection and sustainable use of transboundary water bodies, and promoting contacts between people.

Mr Uibo said that the current low point in bilateral relations as well as relations between Russia and the West can be overcome only through the resolution of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, which is the main condition of both the European Union as well as NATO for the restoration of relations with Russia.

The meeting also covered the Estonian-Russian border treaty. Both sides noted that the application of the treaty is in the interest of both countries and would contribute to improving relations.

The ratification bill of the treaty passed the first reading in Riigikogu in the autumn of 2015. The two sides had previously agreed that the ratification process would be conducted in parallel. The process is currently at a halt because the Russian parliament has interrupted work on the treaty.

The last political consultations between the foreign ministries of Estonia and Russia were held in 2017 in Tallinn.