EU relaunches partnership talks with Russia

(BRUSSELS) - The EU was to resume key partnership talks with Russia on Tuesday, aimed at boosting economic and diplomatic ties, three months after they were frozen in the wake of the Georgia conflict.

The European Commission's lead negotiator Eneko Landaburu was due to meet with Russia's EU ambassador Vladimir Chizhov in Brussels later in the day to relaunch the talks which were frozen on September 1 in protest at Moscow's actions in Georgia.

The negotiations are aimed at forging an overarching framework to manage the EU and Russia's diplomatic and commercial ties and ensure constant supplies of Russian oil and gas.

The strategic partnership talks had opened in July, with just one round of formal negotiations before they were frozen after the short war in Georgia.

Russian tanks rolled into its former fiefdom in August and Moscow subsequently recognised as independent the breakaway Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, facts which will cast a long shadow over the talks.

It was not until November 10, just ahead of an EU-Russia summit, that the European Union took the decision to resume the talks, despite the dissenting voice of Lithuania.

No one knows how long the wide-ranging negotiations will take as they will include everything from justice to immigration, human rights and education.

Landaburu has pointedly refused to set a calendar.

"That depends on the will of both sides," he told AFP, saying that he expected to meet Chizhov every six to eight weeks.

For him the Georgia conflict and Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia will not put the brakes on the talks as these issues are being discussed by Moscow and Tbilisi in separate talks in Geneva.

For Landaburu the problems will be encountered in the economic field, particularly on the fundamental issue of reliable energy supplies from Russia which "could be the most difficult" topic.

However the EU negotiator insisted that the resumption of the talks did not constitute a normalisation of relations with Moscow as major differences remain over Georgia, which has ambitions to join both the EU and NATO.

"We are resuming the discussions because it is in the interests of both sides," he said.