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| Russia, EU Leaders Meet ahead of Summit |
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[ 作者: 加入时间:2007-05-18 17:22:29 来自:
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Russian President Vladimir Putin (R) hosts German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C), whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency, and EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso at the European leaders' summit, in a riverside holiday resort near Samara, May 17, 2007. [Photo: Reuters] Russian President Vladimir Putin held the first meeting Thursday evening with European Union leaders upon their arrivals for the two-day summit in a southern Russia resort.
Putin received European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, whose country is holding the six-month EU presidency, with a private dinner at the summit spot, the Volzhsky Utyos, according to the presidential press service.
During the dinner, the participants, also involving Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov, talked about relations between Russia and the 27-member bloc, which have been clouded by arrays of recent rows, according to a Kremlin statement published on the official website.
"I am not expecting, honestly, anything spectacular from this meeting," Barroso told reporters after his arrival in Samara city, about 200 kilometers away from Volzhsky Utyos.
Leaders of Russia and the EU are expected to conduct hard talks on tough topics covering bilateral ties, energy, Kosovo and Iran nuclear issue in the summit slated for Thursday and Friday.
President Putin will host a press conference Friday afternoon after the meeting at the scenic spa sanatorium.
Thousands of police have been dispatched to guard the Volzhsky Utyos, located on the bank of the Volga River with the wooded Tolyatti city, Samara Region, on the other bank, against the Zhiguli Mountains.
The summit will cover talks for a new EU-Russia partnership agreement to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement which came into force in 1997 with a 10-year initial duration.
It is also expected to focus on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization and energy cooperation with the EU, including problems related to gas and oil supply, according to a EU press release available on Thursday.
EU has voiced supports to Russia's accession to the international trade body.
Energy was also expected to top the summit agenda.
Russia inked a landmark agreement last week with Central Asia's major energy producers, pledging to export natural gas via Russia through pipelines along the Caspian Sea.
Analysts say the deal will enhance Russia's domination on energy exports to Europe, which has strived to lobby for a pipeline built on the Caspian seabed and bypassing Russia.
Senior officials, including Russian Foreign Minister Serge Lavrov, EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who was reportedly delayed due to a ceremony, will participate in discussions on international issues such as Kosovo, Iranian nuclear issue and Middle East situation in the two-day gathering.
"We need to continue to develop our strategic partnership," Barroso said in the EU release, as a latest strive to ease tension between EU and Russia.
The start of talks on the new partnership protocol has been blocked by Poland in retaliation for Russia's import ban on Polish meat and by Lithuania, which on Tuesday linked the talks with settlement of energy disputes with Russia.
Russia-EU relations grew more complicated due to a U.S. plan to deploy interceptor missiles in Poland and a radar station in the Czech Republic.
Poland and the United States have held the fist round of talks early this week, which was described as "useful initial discussions" by U.S. officials.
Russia has repeatedly voiced opposition to the deployment plan, saying its target will not be Iran, as the United States claimed, but Moscow.
In return, Putin has suggested to suspend participation in a military control treaty on the European continent, which will also be a topic of the summit.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice failed to soften Russia's position after Tuesday's meeting with Putin and Lavrov.
The rows between Russia and Estonia, a new EU member, over the relocation of a bronze World War II Soviet soldier's status from a central square to a cemetery in capital Tallin also shadowed the Russia-EU ties.
"I think that, thank God, we do not have any conflicts yet," Putin told German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier in a Moscow meeting early this week.
"We have different opinions about how to solve certain problems but both parties have the desire to see these problems resolved. In my opinion, this is already quite positive," Putin said.
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