The Federation Council, the upper house of Russia's parliament, ratified at its first fall session on Wednesday a border treaty between Russia and Latvia, RIA Novosti reports.
The treaty, called upon to end a long-running territorial dispute with Russia's ex-Soviet neighbor, was signed in Moscow on March 27. Latvia's parliament ratified it on May 17, and the country's president approved the law on May 29.
A 9.5-kilometer (6-mile) sector of the border will have to be moved 30 meters (98 feet) to the west and will become Russian territory. The treaty was ratified by Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, on September 5.
By signing the treaty, European Union member Latvia officially recognized the post-Soviet borders with Russia, dropping its earlier territorial claims to the Pytalovsky District in Russia's Pskov Region, which was part of the Baltic country until World War II.
Mikhail Margelov, the chairman of the Federation Council's international affairs committee, said at today's session that under the treaty, a border demarcation commission will be established as soon as possible.
"The treaty's ratification will complete the international legal formalization of the Russian-Latvian border," Margelov said.