VILNIUS — Russian President Dmitry Medvedev turned down an invitation to attend Lithuania’s independence commemoration ceremonies, citing other commitments but sent a message of congratulations to the Baltic state.

Despite Medvedev’s non-attendance, the move is a bright spot in the often corrosive [private_supervisor] diplomatic relations between the two countries since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago.

“I am grateful for the invitation to the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the reestablishment of independence of the Republic of Lithuania. I would like to extend my congratulations on this anniversary and to wish you and the people of Lithuania every success,” President Medvedev wrote to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė.

Grybauskaitė was not invited to attend the Russian May 9 celebrations commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in WWII.

Thaw hasn’t solved all conflicts

The rapport between Grybauskaitė and Medvedev is the warmest between a Lithuanian and Russian leader in at least a decade. The two already met in Berlin last year, and an official state visit by Grybauskaitė to Russia is expected this year.

However, differences remain between the countries. Medvedev’s congratulations contradicts statements made in September, when he announced that Russia considers former Soviet republics and satellite states to be within its “privileged” sphere of influence.

Lithuanian demands for reparations from Russia for damages wrought by the Soviet regime have been dismissed by the Kremlin. In terms of trade, in the last year Russian customs have virtually halted the importation of Lithuanian and Latvian goods by semi-truck into the country with little warning and the cutoff of Russian crude to Mažeikiai continues. Russia is going ahead with plans to build a nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad, and Lithuania spurned an offer to invest in the project, instead seeking to build its own plant.

Both countries say that it’s up to the other one to improve relations.

“You know, I would really like to see an improvement in our relations with the Baltic countries … so that we can have a normal, reciprocal exchange of goods, so that tourism can flourish, so that there can be an open debate about the most difficult aspects of our mutual history, and so that there is a regular exchange of delegations at every level, including the highest level. Unfortunately in recent years not much has happened in this sense. I don’t want to single out anyone for blame in this regard. I should say though that currently in Lithuania the prerequisites are in place for reactivating this dialogue,” Medvedev said at a press conference in December.

Lithuania’s new foreign minister Audronius Ažubalis echoed this sentiment, saying Lithuania had is trying for better relations and it is up to Russia to correct actions he described as “threatening” such as the Druzhba pipeline shutdown.
[/private_supervisor] [private_subscription 1 month]diplomatic relations between the two countries since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago.

“I am grateful for the invitation to the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the reestablishment of independence of the Republic of Lithuania. I would like to extend my congratulations on this anniversary and to wish you and the people of Lithuania every success,” President Medvedev wrote to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė.

Grybauskaitė was not invited to attend the Russian May 9 celebrations commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in WWII.

Thaw hasn’t solved all conflicts

The rapport between Grybauskaitė and Medvedev is the warmest between a Lithuanian and Russian leader in at least a decade. The two already met in Berlin last year, and an official state visit by Grybauskaitė to Russia is expected this year.

However, differences remain between the countries. Medvedev’s congratulations contradicts statements made in September, when he announced that Russia considers former Soviet republics and satellite states to be within its “privileged” sphere of influence.

Lithuanian demands for reparations from Russia for damages wrought by the Soviet regime have been dismissed by the Kremlin. In terms of trade, in the last year Russian customs have virtually halted the importation of Lithuanian and Latvian goods by semi-truck into the country with little warning and the cutoff of Russian crude to Mažeikiai continues. Russia is going ahead with plans to build a nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad, and Lithuania spurned an offer to invest in the project, instead seeking to build its own plant.

Both countries say that it’s up to the other one to improve relations.

“You know, I would really like to see an improvement in our relations with the Baltic countries … so that we can have a normal, reciprocal exchange of goods, so that tourism can flourish, so that there can be an open debate about the most difficult aspects of our mutual history, and so that there is a regular exchange of delegations at every level, including the highest level. Unfortunately in recent years not much has happened in this sense. I don’t want to single out anyone for blame in this regard. I should say though that currently in Lithuania the prerequisites are in place for reactivating this dialogue,” Medvedev said at a press conference in December.

Lithuania’s new foreign minister Audronius Ažubalis echoed this sentiment, saying Lithuania had is trying for better relations and it is up to Russia to correct actions he described as “threatening” such as the Druzhba pipeline shutdown.[/private_subscription 1 month] [private_subscription 4 months] diplomatic relations between the two countries since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago.

“I am grateful for the invitation to the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the reestablishment of independence of the Republic of Lithuania. I would like to extend my congratulations on this anniversary and to wish you and the people of Lithuania every success,” President Medvedev wrote to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė.

Grybauskaitė was not invited to attend the Russian May 9 celebrations commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in WWII.

Thaw hasn’t solved all conflicts

The rapport between Grybauskaitė and Medvedev is the warmest between a Lithuanian and Russian leader in at least a decade. The two already met in Berlin last year, and an official state visit by Grybauskaitė to Russia is expected this year.

However, differences remain between the countries. Medvedev’s congratulations contradicts statements made in September, when he announced that Russia considers former Soviet republics and satellite states to be within its “privileged” sphere of influence.

Lithuanian demands for reparations from Russia for damages wrought by the Soviet regime have been dismissed by the Kremlin. In terms of trade, in the last year Russian customs have virtually halted the importation of Lithuanian and Latvian goods by semi-truck into the country with little warning and the cutoff of Russian crude to Mažeikiai continues. Russia is going ahead with plans to build a nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad, and Lithuania spurned an offer to invest in the project, instead seeking to build its own plant.

Both countries say that it’s up to the other one to improve relations.

“You know, I would really like to see an improvement in our relations with the Baltic countries … so that we can have a normal, reciprocal exchange of goods, so that tourism can flourish, so that there can be an open debate about the most difficult aspects of our mutual history, and so that there is a regular exchange of delegations at every level, including the highest level. Unfortunately in recent years not much has happened in this sense. I don’t want to single out anyone for blame in this regard. I should say though that currently in Lithuania the prerequisites are in place for reactivating this dialogue,” Medvedev said at a press conference in December.

Lithuania’s new foreign minister Audronius Ažubalis echoed this sentiment, saying Lithuania had is trying for better relations and it is up to Russia to correct actions he described as “threatening” such as the Druzhba pipeline shutdown.[/private_subscription 4 months] [private_subscription 1 year]diplomatic relations between the two countries since the fall of the Soviet Union two decades ago.

“I am grateful for the invitation to the celebrations of the 20th anniversary of the reestablishment of independence of the Republic of Lithuania. I would like to extend my congratulations on this anniversary and to wish you and the people of Lithuania every success,” President Medvedev wrote to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė.

Grybauskaitė was not invited to attend the Russian May 9 celebrations commemorating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in WWII.

Thaw hasn’t solved all conflicts

The rapport between Grybauskaitė and Medvedev is the warmest between a Lithuanian and Russian leader in at least a decade. The two already met in Berlin last year, and an official state visit by Grybauskaitė to Russia is expected this year.

However, differences remain between the countries. Medvedev’s congratulations contradicts statements made in September, when he announced that Russia considers former Soviet republics and satellite states to be within its “privileged” sphere of influence.

Lithuanian demands for reparations from Russia for damages wrought by the Soviet regime have been dismissed by the Kremlin. In terms of trade, in the last year Russian customs have virtually halted the importation of Lithuanian and Latvian goods by semi-truck into the country with little warning and the cutoff of Russian crude to Mažeikiai continues. Russia is going ahead with plans to build a nuclear power plant in Kaliningrad, and Lithuania spurned an offer to invest in the project, instead seeking to build its own plant.

Both countries say that it’s up to the other one to improve relations.

“You know, I would really like to see an improvement in our relations with the Baltic countries … so that we can have a normal, reciprocal exchange of goods, so that tourism can flourish, so that there can be an open debate about the most difficult aspects of our mutual history, and so that there is a regular exchange of delegations at every level, including the highest level. Unfortunately in recent years not much has happened in this sense. I don’t want to single out anyone for blame in this regard. I should say though that currently in Lithuania the prerequisites are in place for reactivating this dialogue,” Medvedev said at a press conference in December.

Lithuania’s new foreign minister Audronius Ažubalis echoed this sentiment, saying Lithuania had is trying for better relations and it is up to Russia to correct actions he described as “threatening” such as the Druzhba pipeline shutdown.[/private_subscription 1 year]

— This is a paid article. To subscribe or extend your subscription, click here.