(VILNIUS) - The EU must prevent resource-rich Russia putting undue pressure any of the bloc's 27 member states, the president of the European Parliament warned Thursday.

In a speech to lawmakers in Lithuania, which is wrangling with its Soviet-era master Russia over oil supplies, Hans-Gert Poettering said European Union nations must stand together when it comes to ties with Moscow.

"The issue of energy security has indeed become a main issue for European security. Energy security is the security of each member state and is related to the energy security of the European Union as a whole," Poettering said in a speech to the Lithuanian parliament.

"None of the EU's countries should suffer from third country pressure. We must create a functional and strong energy foreign policy.

"The core must be a real, common attitude towards Russia. We should ensure that neither Lithuania, nor any other EU member state, experiences pressure. We want good relations with Russia and a cooperation agreement with a strong energy element," he said.

As the EU prepares to launch long-delayed talks on boosting ties with Russia -- including in the energy market -- Lithuania has been upping the ante.

"Our interest is that the European Union cooperates with Russia, but not at the cost of our interests," Violeta Gaizauskaite, spokeswoman for Lithuania's foreign ministry told AFP on Wednesday.

Asked whether Lithuania could block the start of talks, she said: "We are considering all the possibilities to defend our national interests."

Any EU member has the right to veto negotiations between the entire bloc and other countries. Poland put the brakes on for more than a year because of a trade spat with Russia.

Russia has regularly been accused of using its control of a hefty slice of Europe's energy market for political ends, allegedly turning off the taps to punish governments in Moscow's communist-era stamping ground that are too critical of the Kremlin.

Lithuania, which broke free from the crumbling Soviet bloc in 1991 and joined the EU in 2004, has been sparring with Russia since August 2006, when the Russian pipeline monopoly Transneft cut supplies to the country's only refinery.

Transneft cited repairs, but Lithuania accused Moscow of taking revenge for the sale of the Mazeikiu refinery complex in 2005 to Polish oil group PKN Orlen instead of a Russian company.

EU foreign ministers meeting April 29 in Luxembourg hope to agree a negotiating stance on a new "Partnership and Cooperation Agreement" with Moscow.

The EU hopes that the talks, blocked since October 2006 amid a deterioration of relations with Moscow, can be launched at an EU-Russia summit in Siberia on June 26-27, at which new Russian president Dmitry Medvedev will be present for the first time.

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