France is willing to settle the question of visas for the Russian subjects before the end of the year and to start offering them long-term visas, France’s Foreign Affairs Minister Alain Juppé announced at a press conference where he spoke alongside his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov, RIA Novosti reports.

During our talks, I voiced France’s wish to settle the visa issue as soon as possible. We confirmed our willingness to give up on the short-term visas, and I believe the process can be completed by the end of this year,’ M. Juppé said.