Border and to the Treaty Between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Estonia on the Delimitation of the Sea Areas in the Narva Estuary and Gulf of Finland. The Treaty of Tartu is considered to be a historical document of no legal power by Russia, while in Estonia the situation is different, as officially Estonia considers itself the continuation state of the interwar Estonia. Latvia It was assumed that the Russian-Latvian border treaty would be signed in 2005. In Latvia the opposition, primarily the organization Abreniešu apvienība consisting of people deported from Pytalovo and surroundings, lobbied for nationwide referendum on such treaty as they saw it as violating the constitution of Latvia (principle of territorial unity). The government ruled out a possibility of referendum, however the negotiations for border treaty were suspended by Russia after the Latvian parliament issued a declaration stating that Latvia was occupied by the Soviet Union and claiming material compensation from Russia for the period of occupation. President Vladimir Putin in his speech regarding these territories said that "it goes against the spirit of modern Europe" to raise issues like this one, that "Russia as well has lost many of its external territories during the breakup of the Soviet Union, such as the Crimea". In an interview with Komsomolskaya Pravda in May 2005, Putin addressed the issue of Pytalovo, when he stated that Russia would not hold any negotiations with Latvia which involved territorial losses for Russia. Lithuania Lithuania immediately after independence recognised the borders established in 1940 as the borders of Lithuania and signed border agreements with Belarus and Poland. Relations with neighbouring Russia have been strained since then but maintain diplomatic alliance with Poland and Belarus. See also Baltic Russians Estonian War of Independence Latvian War of Independence Lithuanian Wars of Independence Reunification Territorial changes of Russia References External links This issue from a U.S.-based political analysis organization (includes information about the Pytalovo region), supports Latvian viewpoint (archived link) Example A map comparing the interwar Estonian territory with that today (the territories detached in 1945 are striped) Baltic History of the Baltic states Baltic Occupation of the Baltic states Geographic history of Estonia Geography of Latvia Foreign relations of Estonia Foreign relations of Belarus Baltic Geographic history of Latvia History of Lithuania (1918–1940) Baltic States Baltic