Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov on Saturday told a delegation from Warsaw that he hoped that the investigation of the April 10 presidential plane crash near Smolensk would help improve ties with Poland.
The meeting came a day after the last 21 bodies of victims of the crash were flown back from Russia to Warsaw.
"We fully realize that, on the one hand, it is our debt to the memory of the dead, and on the other, it is a factor that will define the level of trust between Russia and Poland in future years," Ivanov said at the start of a meeting to discuss the investigation.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski, his wife and 94 other mostly senior Polish political and military figures died when their plane crashed in thick fog near Smolensk in western Russia.
They were heading to the Katyn forest to mark the 70th anniversary of the massacre of 22,000 Polish officers and intellectuals by Soviet secret police. For decades until 1990, Moscow denied responsibility for the deaths, blaming the Nazis.
Leaders from both nations have said they hope that the crash serves as a catalyst for reconciliation between their countries, divided by historical grievances and present-day disputes over missile defense, NATO enlargement, gas pipelines and other issues.
"Only the truth will give us the possibility to continue the process of rapprochement between our people, who are living through the grief of this heavy loss together," Ivanov said, seated across from Polish Defense Minister Bogdan Klich.
"We have to speed up the work, and we have to follow the principles of openness and transparency," Klich said.
Ivanov said Russian specialists were working closely with their Polish colleagues on the investigation. They have obtained black box voice and data recordings and recordings from air traffic control at Smolensk Airport.
Ivanov said all 96 bodies had been identified. DNA tests in Moscow helped identify the bodies, including those of five crew members. Previously, 75 victims' bodies had been returned, with burials being held throughout the week.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and the military honor guard Friday were at Warsaw's Okecie Airport for the return of the dead, the last of a string of sorrow-filled arrivals in the past two weeks.
Poland's TVN24 television showed footage the same day from the investigation in Russia. Russian and Polish experts can be seen listening to one of the three flight recorders recovered after the crash. No words are recognizable in the 50-second footage.
The opened flight recorders can be seen: muddy on the outside, but intact inside.