TALLINN, November 14. /TASS/. Estonian Prime Minister Juri Ratas has spoken out in favor of completing the process of ratifying the border treaty with Russia.

"I support the completion of ratification of the Estonian-Russian border agreements," he said in parliament on Wednesday. "I believe this is a much broader issue. This is also the issue of the European Union’s external border and NATO’s external borders."

The prime minister recalled that the parties had signed the treaty in 2014. "Both Russia and Estonia at that time expressed a clear desire to resolve the issue once and for all," he added.

The two countries initially signed a border treaty in 2005. However, Russia had to withdraw its signature after Estonian lawmakers included some politicized provisions in the document submitted to the country's parliament for ratification. Negotiations resumed in late 2012. The border treaty signed by the Estonian and Russian top diplomats in February 2014 has been submitted to the two countries’ parliaments for ratification.

In January, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Tallinn had been violating the 2014 agreement, since the parties were expected "to make sure that the ruling circles adopt a normal, non-confrontational approach towards each other." While Russia has fulfilled its obligations, the Estonian government has failed to show such restraint, he added.