MOSCOW, August 13 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian government has approved a recommendation by the Russian Foreign Ministry not to sign the border treaty with Estonia, the government press service reported. Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov signed the proposal Saturday. The government announced on its website its decision to "approve a recommendation by the Russian Foreign Ministry to send notification to the Estonian side informing them of Russia's intention not to be party to the agreement on the Russian-Estonian land border and the agreement... on the border in the Gulf of Narva and the Gulf of Finland [in the Baltic Sea] signed in Moscow on May 18 2005."
The government will recommend that the Russian President notify Estonia of Russia's refusal to sign the agreement.
The agreement on the Russian-Estonian land and sea borders was signed by the heads of the Russian and Estonian Foreign Ministries, Sergei Lavrov and Urmas Paet, on May 18 in Moscow.
Estonian parliamentarians postponed ratification of border agreements with Russia on June 15, and changed the preamble to the bill, adding a reference to the occupation of Estonia by the Soviet Union, and making a claim on a part of Russia's territory.
