Russia and Poland need to break down the wall of distrust that exists between them, a senior member of Russian parliament said on Thursday in an interview with RIA Novosti.
The International Affairs Committees of the Russian and Polish lower houses of parliament are holding their first joint meeting on Thursday in Warsaw.
"The Russian delegation arrived in Warsaw to break down the wall of mistrust between Poland and Russia," Konstantin Kosachyov said.
"We are no longer hearing from Warsaw the accusations and challenges that had become almost traditional," Kosachyov said, adding that discussions on historical issues had been "relatively painless," allowing the two sides to focus on concrete issues like the economy and humanitarian cooperation
Kosachyov said the citizens of both countries expect an improvement in bilateral ties and every effort should be used to make this a reality.
On Friday Kosachyov will meet for talks with Acting Polish President and Parliamentary Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski.
Russian-Polish relations improved in recent months as a result of the sympathy Russia showed over the death of Polish President Lech Kaczynski in a plane accident near the western Russian city of Smolensk.
However, Kosachyov, earlier said it was naive to believe that the improvement in Russian-Polish relations would automatically remove problems in relations between the two countries.
The deployment of U.S. Patriot missiles in Poland is one such issue.
This week the United States opened a temporary military base near the northern Polish town of Morag, 80 km (50 miles) from the Russian border, under the Supplemental Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) signed in December 2009. Russia has expressed concern over the project.
WARSAW, May 27 (RIA Novosti)
