Russia, Lithuania Continue Consultations on Preservation of Courland Spit's Landscape

Russia and Lithuania will continue consultations on the preservation of the cultural-natural landscape of the Courland Spit (Kurshskaya Kosa) in the format of the interdepartmental commission, Nina Snopkova, an advisor of the Russian Foreign Ministry's department of cultural cooperation and UNESCO affairs told a press conference in RIA Novosti on Thursday.

According to her, the problem of the further destiny of this monument, included in the UNESCO world legacy list, is an aspect of Russian-Lithuanian relations.

Russia has taken into account wishes of the Lithuanian side on the necessity to solve the problems of the Courland Spit and proposed to discuss them in the format of an interdepartmental commission, Snopkova said.

According to Igor Makovetsky, the president of the Russian National Committee of World Cultural and Natural Legacy, the Lithuanian side made claims on Russia because a Russian conservated oil derrick is situated 40 kilometres away from the Courland Spit, and its commissioning can damage the UNESCO natural-cultural monument.

Russia has already given detailed answers to Lithuania's questions, and the Russian and Lithuanian Foreign Ministries are actively working on the solution of the remaining problems.