Baltic States – CIS, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Legislation, Russia, Transport

"Successful ratification of the border treaty could give a stimulus to the solution of a whole bundle of other questions," Petrov said, adding that the agreement is of signal significance and important for Estonian-Russian relations as a whole. Russia has in connection with the border treaty already prepared several agreements for instance in the field of customs and rescue, he said.

"The existence of a firmly fixed border is in my view the best answer to those who accuse us of some sort of aggressive intentions including with regard to Estonia. We are in favor of the border becoming more secure, of it being actually demarcated, and of there being no misunderstanding about it," the Russian diplomat said.

According to Petrov members of the State Duma (lower house of the Russian parliament) hold different views on the border treaty but hopefully the vote will have a positive outcome. "I am certain that the majority will after all back the bill which will eliminate one of the longest standing problems in bilateral relations," he said adding that it is to be hoped very much that there will be no negative surprises.

The ambassador said there are positive signs in the relations between the two countries, naming Estonian parliamentarians' recent visit to Moscow as one of them. A delegation of the State Duma could come on a return visit to Tallinn at the invitation of their Estonian colleagues already at the beginning of next year.

Petrov sees not so much problems as non-understanding of one another's positions in the two countries' relations. In his words, global challenges facing the world today are so huge no country can cope with them single-handed and therefore it is necessary to join forces. "The size and population of a country play no role in this. It is important to put up a fight together," Petrov said adding that the challenges he has in mind are international terrorism, natural disasters and famine in many countries.

He also reiterated Moscow's opposition to the expansion of NATO. "In our view the movement of NATO infrastructure to our borders does not help strengthen security in Europe, this also concerns the currently vague plans regarding Ukraine and Georgia. It would be most desirable if our interests, our security interests were taken into consideration in mapping out such plans," he said.

The ambassador underlined that regardless of Estonia's membership in the European Union and NATO Russia regards the relations between the two countries as a sort of a safety net and this is the basis on which Moscow builds its relations not only with Estonia but also with other member countries of those organizations.