Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus will make a state visit to Russia at the end of March

Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus will make a state visit to Russia at the end of March in a rare trip for a Baltic leader and one Lithuanians say could lead to improved relations. The visit, slated for three days starting March 29, will only be the second by a Lithuanian president since the country regained independence. Then President Algirdas Brazauskas traveled to Russia in 1997. Bilateral relations have occasionally been strained, including over bids by Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia to join the NATO alliance. The Kremlin also blasted recent Lithuanian demands that Moscow pay for environmental damage caused by the Soviet army during its five-decade occupation, and compensate Lithuanians deported to Siberia during the Stalinist era. Adamkus and Russian President Vladimir Putin are expected to hold face-to-face talks, which could touch on the issue of Kaliningrad, a small Russian enclave cut off from mainland Russia and sandwiched between Lithuania and Poland. The European Union says it is worried about Kaliningrad's future status after Lithuania and Poland join the EU as expected in several years. It fears the enclave could become a conduit for illegal smuggling and immigration into an expanded EU. The two sides are also likely to discuss the delivery of Russian crude to Lithuania, which has occasionally been disrupted. Some officials in Vilnius accused Russia of using the cutoffs to apply economic pressure and force Lithuania to sell a stake in its giant oil refinery, Mazeikiai Oil, to Russia's Lukoil conglomerate. Adamkus and Putin were initially expected to sign an agreement formalizing their exiting borders. But some Lithuanians said Moscow appeared to be dragging its feet on the treaty and they doubted the Kremlin would be ready to sign it by the time Adamkus goes to Russia.