News: Russia & EU

BBC NEWS. European Union foreign ministers are hoping to persuade Poland and Lithuania that the EU should resume partnership talks with Russia.

RIA Novosti. BRUSSELS, November 10 (RIA Novosti) - The European Union said on Monday that talks on a new strategic partnership agreement with Russia would resume later this month, despite opposition from Lithuania.

The Earth Times. Moscow - Russia welcomed the EU's decision Monday to re-start partnership talks frozen over Russia's war with Georgia in August. "We have long been ready to re-start talks," an official with the government headed by Vladimir Putin said on condition of anonymity as Russia has not officially been informed. EU leaders suspended talks on a new accord that governs its relations with the EU in protest of Russia's occupation of Georgia. Moscow has pulled back troops to Georgia's breakaway provinces under an EU-brokered ceasefire, but many Western diplomats still say it is not enough. EU heads are set to meet Russian President Dmitry Medvedev at a summit in the French resort of Nice on Friday. "We have great hopes for the summit in Nice," the official told Deutsche Presse-Agentur on Monday. 

The Moscow Times.com. Arkady Dvorkovich, the Kremlin's top economic adviser, signaled ahead of a key meeting with European officials that the government would be willing to reconsider potentially contentious trade decisions if WTO negotiations could be wrapped up quickly.

The Associated Press. By PAUL AMES. BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — The European Union, dependent on Russia for much of its energy, decided Monday to resume major economic and political negotiations with Moscow that were frozen after the invasion of Georgia.

AFP. BRUSSELS (AFP) — French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Friday expressed "strong concern" over Russian plans to deploy missiles near its border with the EU, while calling for frozen talks with Moscow to be resumed.

The Earth Times. Brussels - The European Union is close to a deal on re-starting talks on a strategic treaty with Russia which it froze following Russia's occupation of Georgia, diplomats said Thursday. But Lithuania, in particular, is still against any such move, especially since Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Wednesday threatened to site missiles across Lithuania's border in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad, sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

RIA Novosti. BRUSSELS, November 7 (RIA Novosti) - Lithuania's president said on Friday that EU-Russia talks on a new strategic partnership deal cannot resume as Russia has failed to fulfill its obligations under an EU-brokered peace deal with Georgia.

Reuters. PARIS (Reuters) - The French presidency of the European Union expressed "strong concern" on Friday over a Russian plan to station new missiles near Poland's border.

The International Herald Tribune. BRUSSELS, Belgium: French President Nicolas Sarkozy pushed Friday for a resumption of European Union talks with Russia frozen after the invasion of Georgia — despite opposition from some eastern nations that accuse Moscow of failing to honor cease-fire terms.