Russian MPs seeking constructive dialogue on Kaliningrad problem Moscow

Russian MPs expect the European Union to announce, in the near future, an intention to hold a constructive dialogue on life sustenance of the Kaliningrad region, Russia's enclave on the Baltic Sea, deputy chairman of the State Duma international affairs committee Konstantin Kosachev said on Wednesday after the lower chamber had passed a draft resolution "On the situation around the Kaliningrad region in connection with the EU expansion".

He stressed that he did not "consider the situation to be in a deadlock".

Moscow was forced "to reasonably propose and categorically insist on a visa-free regime for Russian citizens and their non-stop, though not sealed, travel across Lithuania and Poland on the way to Kaliningrad through the preliminary determined railway, automobile and other corridors", he pointed out. Yet, the EU's intractability cannot but arouse bewilderment, as even during the Cold War the problem of West Berlin, situated in Western Germany's territory, was solved.

The MP recalled that the Kaliningrad region annually loses $22 million because of the too high transit tariffs, set by Poland and Lithuania.