Russia lightens visa restrictions, making travel to country easier

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his Romanian counterpart on Wednesday discussed ways of easing visa restrictions during talks that also focused on bilateral cooperation and international issues. The European Union announced Wednesday that it would initiate an agreement with Moscow that should make travel to Russia easier and cheaper by the end of the year.

"We discussed ways of facilitating the system of issuing visas in the framework ... of the dialogue between the European Union and the Russian Federation," Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu said through a translator at the end of the talks, the AP reports.

The two ministers also discussed bilateral cooperation and international problems.

"Russian-Romanian political dialogue is gaining a positive dynamic," Lavrov told Ungureanu ahead of the talks. Ungureanu also said the two countries' should boost economic cooperation.

The two, however, refrained from discussing Trans-Dniester, a breakaway region in Moldova, Lavrov said.

The Russian-speaking region broke away from Moldova in 1992 following a short war that killed about 1,500 people. Russia maintains almost 1,500 troops in the region, which during Soviet times was an important military base.

Russia's relations with Romania have slightly improved after years of little contact due to historical conflicts over Moldova, a former Romanian province.

On photo: Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

T.E.