Strained relations between the Baltic states and Russia are set to improve if Vladimir Putin is elected president this Sunday, even if his long-term policies remain unclear.

Since regaining independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have often squabbled with Moscow, which has complained bitterly about the treatment of the region_s large Russian-speaking minority. The rhetoric has hit fever pitch in the run-up to the vote as candidates have postured to strike a nationalist chord -- but is more than likely to subside once the election is over. "In Russian foreign policy there have been no turning points since 1917. Interpretations have changed, the terms being used have changed, but the policy, foreign policy, is just the same...Russian foreign policy has taught us that it gets more aggressive as elections approach," said Latvian plitical scientist Zanete Ozolina. Baltic capital markets have been quiet in the days ahead of the vote and analysts say a decisive win for Putin, acting president since January, could calm fears of instability and bring a fresh wave of investment. "We think the election will bring a more predictable, consistent and dynamic relationship...that the new Russian president will pursue a relationship built on cooperation with all Western countries, including its immediate neighbours," Lithuanian Deputy Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas said. Putin, the hot favourite to win the election, protested strongly last month when 77-year-old former Soviet partisan Vasili Kononov was convicted in Latvia for the murder of nine civilians in 1944, and even offered him Russian citizenship. But Putin has said he does not favour an economic sanctions bill against Latvia currently before the Russian parliament. Latvia has the largest Russian-speaking minority in the region at some 650,000. Across the Baltics, some 131,000 Russian residents can vote on Sunday, and opinion polls indicate most will vote for Putin. But many Balts have longer term worries about the former KGB spy, unknown on the political stage less than a year ago, who says he backs economic reforms but has not published an election manifesto or economic programme.