EU needs 'to clear the air' with Russia at summit
Russia - EU
(BRUSSELS) - The EU needs "to clear the air" with Russia at a summit Tuesday as sharp differences over the Ukraine crisis and eastern Europe test relations, a senior EU official said.
After Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych ditched an EU accord in November under pressure from Russia, "there is a strong sense that we could not simply have a business-as-usual summit," the EU official said Monday.
"It cannot be a matter of just ticking the boxes," said the official, who asked not to be named.
Stressing that the European Union and Russia were bound by "an extremely strong trading relationship," the official said Ukraine's decision in November to turn to Moscow rather than Brussels meant the two sides now needed "a strategic, fundamental discussion".
Russian President Vladimir Putin will be hosted at the Tuesday summit by European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso.
They are to meet alone for the "strategic" talks with a minimum of aides at a summit shortened to less than three hours, with EU foreign affairs head Catherine Ashton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also sitting in.
They gather against a backdrop of sharpening differences over relations with eastern Europe -- highlighted by the Ukraine impasse -- as well as trade frictions plus a series of international issues such as Iran and Syria where Moscow and Brussels also do not see eye to eye.
In Ukraine on Monday, the government threatened to impose a state of emergency after demonstrators occupied the justice ministry and protests demanding Yanukovych's resignation spread wider despite his offer to share power.
The EU official repeated that the bloc wanted to see a political dialogue and a calming of the Ukraine situation, and would continue to be in contact with both sides to that end.
"It is a great shame that matters have reached this stage," the official said, arguing that Yanukovych "broke the political consensus in Ukraine" to sign a trade and political deal with the EU at its Eastern Partnership summit in Vilnius in November.
The EU Eastern Partnership that offered closer ties with six former Soviet states -- Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine -- would have also been positive for Russia, the official insisted.
The official rejected arguments that the accord would discriminate against Russia, saying it was Moscow's own rival customs union project that was discriminatory against other states.
Armenia, Belarus and Azerbaijan have opted to turn to Moscow though Georgia and Moldova have initialled political and trade agreements with the EU that still need to be come into effect.
But despite the tensions, the official said he did not believe Tuesday's summit would be a "make or break" event as the two sides remained mindful of common interests, especially in trade and energy.
"There will be disagreements but these have to be managed in the interests of both sides ... leaders want to see how they can move forward," the official said.
The official said no joint statement was expected.