OREANDA-NEWS. On August 18, 2009 President Dalia Grybauskaite had a telephone conversation with the President of the Russian Federation, Dmitry Medvedev.
 
During their conversation, the two presidents discussed the urgent issues relating to the difficulties experienced by the Lithuanian road carriers, the export of Lithuanian dairy products, and the broader prospects for bilateral economic and cultural cooperation.
 
President Grybauskaite underlined that neighboring countries had to maintain mutually beneficial economic contacts, particularly at a time of global economic crisis. "Inter-departmental misunderstandings produce nothing but losses to both Lithuania and Russia. I am convinced that our two countries have a sufficiently strong potential for the development of economic relations and I would encourage addressing all problems only through open dialogue," Dalia Grybauskaite told President Medvedev.
 
President Grybauskaite also emphasized that Lithuania should not be singled out from other countries when applying Russia's stringent phytosanitary standards and carrier checking procedures.
 
Dmitry Medvedev assured President Grybauskaite that the strict requirements would not be applied exclusively in respect of Lithuania. The two presidents agreed to mandate the respective institutions of their countries to deal with the occurring problems in a more active and constructive way and to ensure that similar misunderstanding would be avoided in the future.
 
This is the first official conversation held by the heads of state of Lithuania and Russia in the past eight years. Since the reestablishment of independence, Lithuanian presidents visited Moscow twice: in 1997 and 2001.