Moscow Pays Considerable Attention To Cooperation Between Russia And Poland In Questions Concerning Life-support Systems In Kaliningrad Region

Moscow pays considerable attention to cooperation between Russia and Poland in questions concerning life-support systems in the Kaliningrad region (the Russian enclave in the west), said on Tuesday the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Alexander Yakovenko, in an interview with RIA Novosti on the eve of an official visit by Vladimir Putin to Poland. According to him, this concerns the joint development of transport and across-border-infrastructure, as well as the transit across the Polish territory. As the diplomat pointed out, Moscow "highly praises" the latest public statements by Aleksander Kwasniewski in which he underscored that "Poland is Ally No.1 of the Russian Federation in preserving the status-quo of the Kaliningrad region" and its inclusion into a broad cooperation in the Baltic area. In the opinion of Yakovenko, "these statements have been already materialised in concrete deeds." He said that in January, at the proposal of the Russian side, Poland agreed to give an international status to the Gusev-Goldap check-point which will work round the clock. Both sides show mutual interest in invention cooperation in the Kaliningrad region and are interested in using to the maximum the possibilities for expanding inter-regional contacts between the Kaliningrad region and the north-eastern provinces of Poland. The full text of the interview given by the Russian Foreign Ministry's official spokesman Alexander Yakovenko with RIA Novosti is available at www.rian.ru