Paradoxically, last week’s Russia-EU summit took place in Khabarovsk, almost as far away from Central Europe as possible. The summit showed not only the huge geographical distances between Brussels and the Russian periphery, but also the remaining roadblocks in EU-Russian relations.
Still, the session did provide certain results, as both parts expressed a high level of openness about each others’ conflicting positions and a commitment to continue constructive talks.
Dialogue
EU Commission President Manual Barroso in the meeting confirmed that the EU will seriously discuss and address Russia’s proposals on enhanced energy cooperation. He underlined that the Commission considers that a number of the Russian proposals are “very useful” and that they must be discussed within the frames of the review of the Energy Charter. He also said that the proposals must be included in the new EU-Russian Partnership document, currently under negotiations.
The summit has brought positive results in the spirit of mutual understanding, Barroso concluded, a press release from the meeting reads.
Russian President Medvedev in the press conference after the summit highlighted that energy issues are not only problematic in Russia-EU relations, but also a unifying force between the parts. “Energy – this is not a field of conflict. On the contrary, this is what unites us, what connects the Russian Federation with the countries of the European Union”, he said.
Vulnerable relations
At the same time however, both President Medvedev and Barroso admitted that energy remains a source of conflict in relations. Medvedev openly said htgat the vulnerable relations within the field of energy. Borroso openly stressed that another crisis like the one with stalled gas transits through the Ukraine would harm EU-Russia relation.
Security
In the meeting, Medvedev repeated his proposal on the elaboration of a new European Security Treaty. –The need for a legal basis for counter-crisis activities is needed, he said, highlighting that no one can be guaranteed that conflicts like the one between Russia and Georgia is repeated.
Medvedev also expressed skepticism with the EU’s new Eastern Partnership agreement, an initiative directed primarily on the former Soviet republics in the Caucasus, the Ukraine and Belorus.
-They have tried to convince us [about the initiative], but we have not been convinced, Medvedev said. He maintained that several of the elements in the initiative is “worrisome” and several countries with dislike of Russia are likely to use the initiative as a partnership against Russia.
