RIA Novosti. Russia considers it necessary to sign with the EU a separate agreement to regulate and standardize freight transit from Kaliningrad - Russia's westernmost enclave in the Baltic, aide to the Russian president on relations with the EU Sergei Yastrzhembsky said on Tuesday answering the questions of Russian journalists.

He noted the fact that after EU enlargement (on May 1, ten East and Central European states, including Lithuania, through which transit from the enclave to [mainland] Russia and back is carried out), freight transit has become much more expensive, which is at variance with the protocol to the agreement of April 27, 2004.

"We consider that the EU did not keep its promises fixed in the protocol," he noted.

Russia is expecting that the visa regime between Russia and the EU as a whole will be eased," Mr. Yastrzhembsky also noted. "We hope to reach the same level in this issue as with Germany, France and Italy," said Mr. Yastrzhembsky. Work in this direction is being conducted actively enough, while the EU has created a special delegation which has got the mandate for talks with Russia and the signing of an agreement on easing the visa regime, he noted. "However, this process has just got off the ground," stressed Mr. Yastrzhembsky.

Earlier, speaking at the Russian-Italian forum held along the line of civil societies in the Moscow State Institute of International Relations, Mr. Yastrzhembsky noted a special character of relations between Russia, Italy, Germany and France. In particular, he emphasized the existence of special agreements on easing the visa regime between them.

There, at the Russian-Italian forum-dialogue, Mr. Yastrzhembsky expressed the opinion that Russia's international image is still being largely determined by its Soviet past.

He figuratively compared a country's image with a student's record book: "For the first two years, a student works for his record book and thenthe record book works for the student," he said.

In his words, "Italy's record book has been working for it for many decades, whereas our record book has not started working yet." In his opinion, the reason for this is the flowing three factors.

"A split in the Christian world and the existence of eastern and western directions in the Christian Church are still being felt. Already at that time, for the dominating branch of the religion, we became alien," noted Mr. Yastrzhembsky.

In his opinion, other substantial factors that are still determining Russia's international image are its isolation from the cultural and information development of the international community in the Soviet period, as well as the lack in Russia of a common perception of such notions as "democracy," "civil society," "the rights and freedoms of the individual."

"This is why we are seen as those who are still undecided about self-identification," noted Sergei Yastrzhembsky.