(Corrects spelling of minister's first name)
By Nerijus Adomaitis
VILNIUS, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Lithuania's foreign minister says he is ready to warm up ties with huge neighbour Russia, a marked change in tone for a nation which last year was the only EU state against restarting cooperation talks with Moscow.
Ties between all the Baltic states and Russia have been edgy since the fall of the Soviet Union as the three small nations left their former ruler behind with a drive to join Western institutions like the European Union and NATO.
But with economic crisis making good trade ties even more vital, signs of a thaw have emerged from the Baltic region.
"The signals towards warming up relations have come from both sides, from Vilnius and Moscow," said Lithuanian Foreign Minister Vygaudas Usackas, member of a four-party centre-right coalition which took office late last year.
"It was mutual expectations that after zero Fahrenheit in our relations we needed to turn a new page," he told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday.
"I see the willingness (of Russia) to reengage with Lithuania on a constructive basis ...," he added.
Signs of a slight thaw have come too for smallest Baltic state Estonia, which last month hosted its highest level Russian official, Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov, since relations took a sharp dive in April 2007.
That was when Estonia moved a Red Army monument from the centre of its capital city, infuriating Moscow. Latvia's ties with Russia have been steady since a border treaty deal in 2007.
Despite traditional wariness, a more multipolar world means Baltic countries, along with many of their European neighbours, are anxious to secure more friendly ties with Russia, both as a political ally and supplier of trade and resources.
Usackas said one sign of better relations was Russia's willingness to work more on judicial issues, including the case of a Lithuanian businessman missing in the neighbouring Russian enclave, Kaliningrad.
In turn, Lithuania has tried to float the idea in the EU of a special visa-free regime for people in Kaliningrad.
"We cannot open borders for the whole of Russia ... but if there is something we can do in concrete terms to facilitate Russia's Europeanization, it is to start from the most natural spot on the map, which is the Kaliningrad region," Usackas said.
He said other EU states would have to accept a special provision in the Schengen agreement on passport-free travel. Moscow would also have to accept such an agreement.
"At the moment, I must state, there is no clear cut agreement on this, and we are still far from in-depth considerations, but provided there is goodwill, we can do it."
Not all is smooth running, though, as Lithuania continued to support Ukrainian and Georgian efforts for closer ties with NATO and the EU, he said, efforts which anger Moscow.
After Russia's war with Georgia last year, Lithuania was the only country to disagree with the resumption of stalled EU talks with Russia on a new cooperation pact.
Lithuania is also still keen for NATO to draft a separate plan for defence of the Baltic states.
At the same time, Lithuania's rhetoric has changed.
"My believe is that Russia shares a joint history with Europe, it stems from Christianity and its destination is going to be in Europe," Usackas added. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, by Myra MacDonald)