Russian official welcomes renewed partnership talks with EU

The Earth Times [1]. 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.