MOSCOW, October 23 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday he is hopeful the first round of negotiations on a Russia-European Union partnership agreement can be held before the end of the year.
"We believe that the first round of talks can begin as early as this year, following an official [EU-Russia] summit in Finland [on November 24]," he told a gathering of EU businessmen in Moscow.
"It is important that this substantive political and legal document should envisage the broad development of a system of sectoral relations," the minister said.
After meeting with EU leaders at an informal summit in the Finnish town of Lahti Friday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia and the 25-nation union plan a new partnership agreement to replace the current accord, which expires November 30, 2007.
He said Moscow would like to see the word "strategic" in the new document's title to reflect the long way the sides have come in developing their relations since the current cooperation agreement was signed in 1994.
Along with political dialogue and cultural exchanges, the deal provides for Russia's gradual economic integration into Europe and the establishment of a free-trade zone.
Speaking ahead of the October 20 meeting, presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky said Russia is ready for talks on the new document, which will encompass all aspects of its relations with the EU for the years to come.
"We expect an announcement at the Russia-EU summit in Helsinki November 24 that the European Commission [the EU executive body] has offered a mandate to start talks [on the issue] with us," he said.
But Yastrzhembsky voiced concerns over calls from some EU quarters to build the future partnership agreement around energy.
The EU, dependent for about a quarter of its energy needs on Russian exports, has been increasingly concerned over the sustainability of the supplies, especially after brief disruptions this past winter owing to a pricing dispute with Ukraine, across whose territory most of Russia's natural gas is delivered to Europe.
At the Lahti meeting, the Russian president re-emphasized Russia's reliability as a supplier, but refused to sign the legally binding Energy Charter, which would obligate Russia to open its strategic oil and gas fields, as well as pipelines, to independent European producers.
