Russian President Vladimir Putin urged the European Union to respect Moscow's interests at talks Wednesday with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini, in a sign of continued friction as the bloc expands eastwards.

"We are not asking for some kind of exclusive relationship with the European Union, but we would like our relations to be built on a good neighbourly basis taking into account our mutual interests," Interfax quoted Putin as saying.

The Russian leader insisted that Moscow viewed the European Union's expansion to 25 countries in May, including eight former Soviet satellites, "with respect and close attention."

But he said that Russia expected its readiness for compromise and constructive dialogue to meet with similar goodwill in Brussels.

Russia "is counting on a corresponding attitude from our partners and that our legitimate interests will be taken account," Putin said.

Russia, for so long the dominant power in eastern Europe, has begrudgingly accepted the enlargement as inevitable.

But it is still pressing for its demands to be met, including a resolution to the fate of its citizens left stateless when the Baltic countries declared their independence in 1991 and protection of its trade links in the region.

This has held up efforts by the EU to extend its current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) with Russia to cover the 10 incoming members: Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Moscow has also maintained demands for visa-free travel across Poland and Lithuania for residents of Kaliningrad, a Russian enclave on the Baltic coast.

Putin last May during a Russia-EU summit at Saint Petersburg complained of a "new Schengen wall" -- a reference to the free-travel zone among a number of EU member states.