Icy relationship between Poland and Russia melting

Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced yesterday that Poland will stop blocking negotiations concerning Russia's accession to the OECD. Initiated by former Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga in May, the PM says this blocking is effecting the position of Estonia, Slovenia, Israel and Chile which were invited as a group with Russia to become members in the organization. Tusk already notified Russian authorities of his decision, while Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski is to meet with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Brussels on December 6. The two will also discuss the date for Tusk's visit to Moscow. This would be a breakthrough visit as Polish Prime Ministers have not visited Russia for many years. Tusk says he would like the visit to take place as soon as possible, another sign that the Polish-Russian relationship is warming after Russian President Vladimir Putin last week extended an invitation to the Polish Agriculture Minister to come to Moscow to discuss the lifting the embargo on the import of food products. (Rzeczpospolita, p. A7; Dziennik, p. 7; Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 6) A.K.