RUSSIA:The EU and Russia failed to make progress on the future status of Kosovo during talks in Moscow, the first between both sides since new proposals drawn up for the UN were published.
The controversial plan was one of the key issues on the agenda of yesterday's EU troika meeting with Russian foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, which also focused on the tense energy relationship and the stalled partnership talks.
Russia repeated its clear pro-Serbian sympathies, opposing the independence of Kosovo, which could lead to a showdown at the UN Security Council where the Kremlin wields a veto. This places Russia at odds with both the EU and Nato's equally strident backing for Martti Ahtisaari's blueprint, which sets Kosovo on a path away from Serbia. After the talks, German foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier, sought to emphasise the Russian delegation's failure to link the future of Kosovo to frozen conflicts in parts of the former Soviet Union, such as Georgia and Moldova.
However, the European Commission last night accepted that both sides had restated their perspectives. "Basically, the feeling was that it's too early to be precise, with Ahtisaari's plans just tabled. They discussed the need to engage with both Serbia and Kosovo in the process," said the commission's spokesman in Moscow last night.
"But I think there is an interest in working together and getting both parties involved in the process," he said.
Tomorrow, the EU's foreign policy representative, Javier Solana, and Mr Steinmeier, will travel to Belgrade to get a firsthand reaction from the Serbian government. Although this has been negative so far, they hope to kickstart a dialogue over the details in the plan. The commission also expressed its optimism that Poland will soon lift its veto to the start of delayed negotiations on a new partnership agreement with Russia.
It hopes that if Russian veterinary experts currently visiting Poland are satisfied with the systems in place to prevent imported meats from Brazil and other third countries being passed off as Polish exports to Russia, then it will lift its own veto on Polish meat imports.
Mr Lavrov criticised the problems getting the partnership talks under way, complaining of the "artificial" problems holding up the EU from beginning negotiations.
"We too hope that negotiations about a new co-operation agreement will start soon but we are not making a tragedy out of the delay," Mr Lavrov said yesterday. Some commentators in Russia have begun to question if the new agreement, which would deepen relations between the two sides, should not be abandoned completely.
The EU hopes to secure better access to Russia's energy and other lucrative industries for European companies, while the Kremlin seeks better co-operation with industries in IT, aviation and pharmaceuticals. Russia has dismissed suggestions that a new kind of supranational body, to iron out future energy rows with the EU, would be created.
Instead, it has promised to look at improving communications in future over possible energy shutdowns. These have occurred twice in just over a year as a byproduct of rows between Russia and neighbouring Belarus and Ukraine.