Russia and the European Union are to re-launch talks on a new partnership deal.The sides will meet in Brussels on Tuesday for discussions after earlier negotiations stalled in September following the military conflict in South Ossetia.
At its November summit in Nice, the EU agreed that Russia had complied with the six-point peace plan brokered to end the war by French and EU president Nicolas Sarkozy – and that partnership talks could resume. A prominent expert on EU affairs, Fraser Cameron, told Russia's Vremya Novostey newspaper that the framework of the agreement would comprise four “common spaces” of EU-Russia relations – political dialogue, commercial and economic issues, internal affairs and external security. Mr Cameron said that the energy problems would be the most complicated part of the discussion, but he believed a positive resolution could be achieved. He said Russia is interested in acquiring a number of things from Europe such as technologies, non-visa travel, and access to educational and cultural programmes. The previous co-operation deal expired in 2007 and was automatically extended.Related link EU-Russia tensions ease?