VOLZHSKY UTYOS (Samara Region), May 18 (RIA Novosti) - President Vladimir Putin said Friday that Russia is not dramatizing the delay in talks on a new cooperation agreement with the European Union, and believes the 27-nation bloc should first resolve its internal problems.
Putin, speaking after a Russia-EU summit near the Volga city of Samara, said: "The strengthening of the Russia-EU partnership's legal basis was a difficult issue... But we are not dramatizing the situation, and we are aware that before the talks begin the EU should resolve its internal problems."
The summit has been overshadowed by Moscow's disputes with the three EU members - over a ban on Poland's meat, the removal of a Soviet war memorial from the center of Estonia's capital Tallinn, and Lithuania's demands that Russian oil supplies be resumed via the Druzhba pipeline.
The current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) between Russia and the EU was signed in June 24, 1994 in Corfu, Greece. The document came into force on December 1, 1997 and expires this year.
Commenting on the new PCA prospects, German Chancellor Angela Markel said the EU was interested in starting talks on a new cooperation agreement despite a number of issues that hamper the negotiation process.
"We want negotiations on a new partnership and cooperation agreement to be resumed... and we have no doubts that this should happen," said Merkel, whose country holds the presidency of the European Union.
Energy issues
Leaders of the EU, increasingly concerned over energy security, are also pushing for Russia to sign the Energy Charter, which would compel the country to open up its vast oil and gas reserves and pipeline network to European companies and to provide safeguards for investors.
EU officials have reportedly warned they will add the main clauses of the Energy Charter in the agreement's new draft if Russia does not sign the energy treaty. Moscow has so far resisted, saying the agreement runs counter to its interests.
The European Union, which imports more than a quarter of its oil and natural gas from Russia via Ukrainian pipelines, faced a brief disruption last winter when Moscow suspended gas deliveries to Ukraine over a price dispute, sparking doubts over Russia's reliability as a supplier.
However, Russia, which has restricted European companies' access to its energy sector, insists that energy security works both ways, and wants Europe to offer purchase safeguards for its energy if it wants Russian producers to guarantee steady deliveries.
President Putin reiterated that Russia will protect its interests in the same way that the EU does, considering the number of complex issues within the EU.
"The European Union has changed, the number of members has increased, and it is more difficult to resolve the issues that were easy to settle in the past," Putin said. "However, we must defend our own interests as professionally as my [European] colleagues do."
The Russian leader criticized the EU for not fulfilling its obligations under the Energy Charter, citing Europe's failure to open the nuclear materials market by 1997 and give Russia direct access to this market.
Dispute over Russia's ban on Polish meat
Putin also said the row between Russia and Poland over Moscow's ban on its former Eastern Bloc ally's meat exports was a common economic issue rather than a political matter. Last November, Warsaw vetoed new PCA talks over Russia's ban on meat and other agricultural imports from Poland. Moscow cited health concerns, but Warsaw said the move was political.
"We all know that there are many disputes within the EU and between the EU and other countries on agricultural issues," Putin said, adding that a common approach to resolving these issues should be developed and used by all concerned parties.
But the President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso said Russia's embargo on Polish meat imports was unjustified.
"If there were grounds [for an embargo], we would not allow Poland to circulate meat in the European Union," he said after the Friday summit.
Putin said Russia was ready to continue talks on its embargo on Polish meat imports, but expected closer cooperation and understanding from Poland and the EU.
"We have not yet solved the Polish meat problem, since our Polish colleagues have not been on speaking terms with us for over a year" Vladimir Putin said. "Thank God, there is the German Chancellor representing their interests; we will move further."
Russia remains one of the key economic partners of the European Union after the U.S. and China, and has been successfully cooperating with Europe on a variety of political, economic, cultural and humanitarian issues.
"We need each other. We are cooperating with each other and will continue to cooperate in the future," the president said.
"We are ready for an open and frank discussion between Russia and the EU, and today's summit has confirmed that we are on the right path," Putin said.
