Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is to attend the commemoration of the liberation by Soviet troops 75 years ago of northern Norway amid rumours that a Norwegian serving a 14-year sentence for espionage in Russia could be freed.
Lavrov is to attend Friday's ceremony in Kirkenes, north of the Arctic Circle, with Prime Minister Erna Solberg and his Norwegian counterpart, Ine Eriksen Soereide, among others.
Kirkenes is the hometown of Frode Berg, a retired border inspector who was arrested in Moscow in December 2017 on espionage charges for collecting information about Russian nuclear submarines.
Berg denied the charges but was convicted in April.
Lavrov told Norway's TV2 channel late Thursday that Berg could return to Norway "any time."
Eriksen Soereide told Norwegian broadcaster NRK that "it is positive that Russia says Frode Berg can come home soon."
On Thursday, an official Russian commission recommended a presidential pardon for Berg, saying the recommendation had been sent to President Vladimir Putin.
Prosecutors asserted that Berg was caught with documents he had received from an employee of a military facility who was shadowed by Russian intelligence. Berg's lawyer has called him a victim of a setup.
For years, the 63-year-old Berg had been a well-known figure in the Russian-Norwegian border area, taking an active role in cultural and humanitarian exchange projects.
The Soviet army entered neighbouring Norway, then occupied by Nazi Germany, in October 1944.
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