Russia, Lithuania Work out Readmission Draft Agreement

It is within an unprecedentedly brief period of time that Russia and Lithuania have worked out the first draft agreement in its kind on the reception and return of persons staying illegally in the territories of Russia and Lithuania (agreement on readmission), with the latest session having been held in Moscow over April 3-4.

The participating experts have come to an understanding over the text of the agreement which began to be compiled on January 16, 2003 in accordance with the decision of the Russia-EU session of November 11, 2002, notes the Russian foreign ministry.

The consensus is to accelerate all the procedures mandatory for preparing the agreement for signing, says the foreign ministry. This is telling evidence of the fact that all the attempts to accuse Moscow of protracting talks on this issue are groundless, concludes the source.