TALLINN, Estonia (Reuters) -- A delegation of Russian lawmakers arrived in Estonia on Monday in a bid to defuse escalating tensions following unrest sparked by the removal of a Soviet war memorial.

Riots broke out in Tallinn on Thursday when police clashed with Russian-speaking Estonians protesting the removal of a World War II grave site of Russian soldiers and a statue commemorating the Red Army.

One man was stabbed to death, more than 150 injured and some 1,000 people detained in three nights of rioting -- the worst violence since Estonia won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991. The two countries have traded harsh words, with Russian officials speaking of "blasphemous" acts against the memory of Red Army soldiers, and Estonia accusing Russian media of spreading lies about the situation. the two

"The main purpose of the visit is to create dialogue between Moscow and Estonia and discuss the current situation," said Lauri Matsulevits, a spokesman at Estonia's Foreign Ministry. One of the members of the Russian delegation, Nikolai Kovalyov, made clear he and other members of the State Duma, Russia's lower parliament house, blame the Estonian government for the uproar. for t "Our opinion is that the Estonian government must resign," Nikolai Kovalyov, chairman of Duma's veterans committee, was quoted as saying by Russian news agency Interfax. "It is obvious that the government provoked the crisis and failed to cope with the unrest in which one person was killed."

Estonian parliamentarian Sven Mikser, who was to meet the Russian delegation, said Kovalyov's statement was "extremely regrettable." "It is a civilized custom to make statements after bilateral meetings have taken place. We on our part are open and ready for a constructive dialogue," Mikser said.

Estonia's Russians -- less than one-third of the country's 1.3 million people -- regard the Bronze Soldier monument as a shrine to Red Army soldiers who fought Nazi Germany, but ethnic Estonians consider it a painful reminder of hardships during the half-century of Soviet rule.

The government justified the move by saying its location near a busy intersection in downtown Tallinn was not a proper place for a war grave. Critics, however, said the government was pandering to Estonian nationalists who wanted the monument removed from the city center.

Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet blamed Russian media for fueling the unrest by printing what he said was misinformation, including rumors that the memorial was sawed into pieces and that hundreds of ethnic Russians on Estonia's police force had resigned. Estonian officials also accused Russia of failing to provide security around the Estonian Embassy in Moscow, where protesters have staged rallies.

On Monday, some 60 people waving flags of pro-Kremlin youth groups demonstrated at the embassy, and passed out "Wanted" posters with pictures of the Estonian ambassador.

A statement on the embassy's web site said its consular section would be closed "so long as the security of its staffers and clients is not guaranteed." President Toomas Hendrik Ilves told the Baltic News Service that Estonian diplomats in Moscow were exposed to "psychological terror" and said their access to the embassy was being obstructed by the protesters.

In Tallinn, the Russian delegation led by Leonid Slutsky, vice chairman of the Duma's foreign affairs committee, would meet with Estonian lawmakers and police and visit the military cemetery where the Bronze Soldier was to be reerected.

The statue is to be officially inaugurated at its new location on May 8. On Tuesday, the Russian lawmakers were set to meet with Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet and Patriarch Cornelius, a representative of Estonia's Orthodox Church.