Russia, Estonia to Proceed With Border Treaties Ratification Soon

The Estonian and Russian parliaments are expected to commence the process of ratifying their bilateral border treaties soon, the country's top diplomats said, as quoted by press service of the Estonian Foreign Ministry, Monday.

TALLINN (Sputnik) – Estonian Foreign Minister Marina Kaljurand and his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov met on the sidelines of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in New York to discuss bilateral relations, including border agreements between the countries.

In February 2014, a set of border treaties was signed between then-Foreign Minister of Estonian Urmas Paet and Lavrov. These accords regulated the land borders between the states and delimited maritime areas in the Narva Bay and the Gulf of Finland.

“Foreign Minister Kaljurand said that the government will soon submit plans of the Estonian border treaties to [the Estonian parliament] Riigikogu for ratification. Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the Russian [lower house] State Duma intends to begin dealing with the agreements in the near future,” the press service said.

The ministers also discussed security and cultural issues, including EU anti-Russian sanctions, coordinated responses to emergency situations and questions related to military burial sites.

Previous border treaties had been signed in 2005, but they were not ratified by Moscow, because of unilateral changes made in the text by the Estonian side that were perceived as potentially enabling Tallinn to make territorial claims against Russia.