Russian President Dmitry Medvedev started a two-day visit to Poland on Monday aimed at improving the long-troubled ties between the two nations.
The Russian leader’s plane landed shortly before 11:30 a.m. in a snow-covered Warsaw.
The visit comes amid a Russian push to modernize its economy and improve its ties with several Western powers, including the European Union and NATO. Poland belongs to both groups.
Medvedev was welcomed by Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski at a ceremony at the presidential palace in central Warsaw. The two leaders stood as a military band played the Russian and Polish anthems then walked together along a red carpet in a symbolic military review, both bowing before the Polish white-and-red flag.
Medvedev is headed into talks with Komorowski and will oversee the signing of a package of deals that will intensify trade and other economic exchange.
The Russian leader is accompanied by his wife Svetlana and a large delegation of government members and business people, including Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Outside the presidential palace, dozens of people protested what they believe to be Russia’s lack of transparency in an investigation into the April plane crash near Smolensk, Russia, that killed then Polish President Lech Kaczynski and 95 others. They held up placards that read "Smolensk. We want the truth."
Polish and Russian experts have been conducting two separate investigations into the crash.
