Estonia blames Russia for delaying border treaty ratification

TALLINN, December 22 (RIA Novosti, Nikolai Adashkevich) - The Estonian foreign minister said in Moscow Thursday that his country had ratified treaties on land and marine borders with Russia and that it was Russia's turn to do the same.

"The Estonian parliament ratified the treaties on the borders with Russia that had been signed in Moscow, without changing them," Urmas Paet said. "I do not see what else we can do."

Paet said Estonia had ratified the treaties and repeatedly assured diplomats that the Baltic country had no territorial claims to Russia. It is up to Russia to respond, the minister said.

The Russian and Estonian foreign ministers signed the treaties on the common borders May 18, 2005. Estonia's parliament ratified the documents June 20.

On September 6, Russia notified Estonia that it would not ratify them since the Estonian parliament had passed a law linking the ratification to the 1920 peace treaty between Soviet Russia and Estonia, which it said was no longer valid.

Russian experts said the law allowed the former Soviet republic to put forward territorial claims to Russia.