Putin proposes EU leaders consider visa-free travel to Russia

MOSCOW -- President Vladimir Putin has proposed the eventual elimination of visa requirements for travel between Russia and the European Union, his office said Tuesday.

Putin's plan for visa-free travel, which he stressed could not be implemented immediately, came in a letter to EU leaders about the organization's dispute with Moscow over Russia's Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad.

Russia has pushed hard for a corridor that would allow Russians to travel visa-free between Kaliningrad and the rest of the country, but EU officials have rejected the idea, instead proposing eased visa procedures.

What's new in Putin's latest initiative is his proposal to lift the requirement for visas for all travel between the European Union and Russia.

Putin suggested EU leaders consider "a shift in the future to visa-free travel for citizens of Russia and the EU," the presidential press service said in a statement.

Putin said the Kaliningrad issue would determine the future of Russia's relations with the EU and voiced hope that the parties would be able to reach an agreement before a summit in November.

There was no immediate public comment to the letter from EU national leaders, the EU executive commission in Brussels or officials in Denmark, which currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

However, an EU diplomat in Brussels who spoke on condition of anonymity suggested that in the long term, EU governments would welcome a move to visa-free travel if certain conditions are met, including controls to ensure criminals and illegal immigrants did not take advantage of the visa-free system.

EU officials have long been concerned about illegal immigration from the former Soviet Union, as well as the spread of drugs and crime. EU embassies in Moscow have strict procedures for issuing visas to Russians.