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Damaged EU-Russia ties bode ill for summit
Sun May 17, 2009 7:41am EDT
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By Conor Sweeney
MOSCOW (Reuters) - This week's EU-Russia summit is expected to bring little real progress on issues such as trade, security and energy after a New Year gas row and last August's Georgia war extinguished hopes of warmer post-Putin ties.
"You will see uncomfortable silences and frozen smiles, if we get out of Khabarovsk with minimal damage, even without any breakthrough, this would be enough," said one European diplomat familiar with the preparations for the summit in eastern Russia.
The low expectations contrast with the near euphoric treatment of incoming President Dmitry Medvedev by European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and EU foreign policy envoy Javier Solana at last June's summit in Siberia.
Previous summits had been dominated by public spats over Russia's rights record and democratic standards, when a robust Vladimir Putin responded to every criticism of his rule with a similar example of corruption or rights abuse in EU countries.
Putin's 2008 exit from the Kremlin had inspired hopes for a friendlier era between Moscow and its top trading partner, and EU officials had praised Medvedev as a man they could work with.
One year on, officials are sober in their assessment.
"The change of President has not brought big changes in bilateral relations, though in some ways the tone, the language has changed. But the main message we get is continuity," the diplomat said, when asked to compare Putin and Medvedev.
Although Russian officials publicly pay lip service to the EU, diplomats say that in reality the Kremlin prefers to cut bilateral deals with friendly European governments such as Italy and ignore Brussels altogether.
The agenda at the May 21-22 summit includes the EU's new eastern partnership, that takes six ex-Soviet republics closer to its orbit, cooperation on tackling the global economic crisis and talks on a new bilateral framework agreement.
GEORGIA, GAS
Although French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country then held the rotating Presidency, played the central role in negotiating a ceasefire between Russia and Georgia, the EU collectively took Georgia's side over the five-day war, something that has not been forgotten in Moscow.
Barroso also expressed repeated frustration at the early January shut down of gas supplies to Europe and the inability of Ukraine and Russia to prevent European consumers losing out through a row which raised questions about Russia's reliability as an energy supplier.
Russia also felt badly stung by the European Commission after Brussels announced a deal with Ukraine to refurbish aging Soviet-era pipelines, a move Moscow felt was taken without consultation about its interests.
In Khabarovsk, Medvedev will press the EU to consider both his plans for a new European security umbrella and a new energy agreement, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said in Moscow on May 15.
"It is a good chance for us to synchronize our watches with our EU partners on complex, relevant questions. Not least amongst the important issues are Europe's energy security and Russian proposals concerning the new legal foundation for cooperation in the energy sector," Nesterenko said. Continued...
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