MOSCOW, December 11 (RIA Novosti) - Russia and the European Union should use the Energy Charter as a basis for developing uniform rules of energy cooperation, Russia's foreign minister said Monday.

Russia has been unwilling to ratify the document, which was drawn up as a mechanism of cooperation between Western and Eastern Europe on energy issues and signed at The Hague in 1991, refusing to give foreign investors free access to the country's oil and gas deposits and export pipelines, which the Energy Charter would oblige it to do.

"We will not ratify the current version of the Energy Charter Treaty, but we are not against developing uniform rules for energy cooperation along the principles set down in the document," Sergei Lavrov said during a meeting with students at Moscow State University.

Moscow's refusal to ratify the Energy Charter Treaty was used by Poland as a pretext to veto talks on a new partnership agreement, which were to be launched at the Russia-EU summit in Helsinki November 24, following Russia's ban on meat imports from the member of the 25-nation European bloc.

Lavrov said Russia-EU relations would make considerable progress without being excessively politicized.