A summit between the EU and Russia designed to promote closer ties failed to disguise a widening rift. Divisions over a new EU partnership with six ex-Soviet states is complicating a drive by Barack Obama, the US president, to seek reconciliation with Moscow. Highlighting the most visible area of discord, Mr Medvedev claimed it was anti-Russian in its makeup. "We tried to convince ourselves that it was otherwise but in the end we couldn't," he said. The EU held its first summit with Ukraine, Georgia, Belarus, Moldova, Armenia and Azerbaijan, the six members of the Eastern Partnership, earlier this month. The project meant to provide aid and support to boost to ex-Soviet nations on Europe's periphery. But the partnership has been denounced in Moscow as a contravention of the "Medvedev Doctrine", laid out by the president last year, which claims that Russia has privileged interests in all former Soviet states. Jose Manuel Barosso, the president of the European Commission, sought to alleviate Mr Medvedev's concerns by inviting Russia to participate in the partnership, but the offer is likely to be rebuffed. Mr Medvedev also gave warning of the possibility of a new European gas crisis by claiming that Ukraine may be unable to meet its payments for Russian energy. Millions of Europeans were left without heating in January after Moscow cut off gas to Ukraine, which acts as a conduit for 80 per cent of Russian supplies bound for the EU, over a politically-tinged payment dispute. "We hope Russia and Ukraine will do everything to ensure that European consumers, who are not the ones responsible, are not again put in the position of suffering the consequences," Mr Barosso said. In recent months, Russia has imposed tariffs on a wide array of EU imports in apparent contravention of pledges Moscow made to the G-20 not to introduce protectionist measures that could worsen the global economic crisis. Russia has also prompted anger by banning all EU pork products, ostensibly over Swine Flu fears. There were few signs of progress either on disagreements about Georgia, which Russia invaded last year. Earlier this month Russia defied international condemnation to take control of the borders of the two Georgian rebel regions at the heart of the conflict and then used its veto to end a European peace monitoring mission in the region. The summit was held in Khabarovsk, a city seven-hours flight from Moscow on the Chinese border. Observers said the location represented a warning from Moscow that it has lucrative alternative markets for its energy and raw materials if the EU does not make itself more amenable to Russian demands.Russia threatens EU with new gas crisis for links to eastern states
Dmitri Medvedev, the Russian president, has attacked the European Union for seeking to forge closer relations with former Soviet states.
Friday, 22 May 2009
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