EU-Russia talks on hold for one more month

A divided EU at a summit in Brussels on Wednesday (15 October) put off until November a decision on when to restart talks on a partnership treaty with Russia. Parallel Russia-Georgia peace talks in Geneva will also resume next month, after a first round broke apart without result.

Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said the Russia decision will come just ahead of an EU-Russia summit in Nice, France on 14 November. The timing may allow the European Commission to present a "root and branch" audit of EU-Russia relations at an EU foreign ministers gathering on 10 November.

Germany and Italy led the campaign to resume discussions on trade, energy and political ties with Moscow after Russia withdrew its forces from parts of Georgia, with the French EU presidency also leaning to Russia's side.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi even repeated that he has a "vision" of Russia joining the EU as a full member in "the coming years."

French leader Nicolas Sarkozy summing up late Wednesday night said countries must avoid "a clash between Russia and Europe" and explained that it was understandable the talks in Geneva had gotten off to a rocky start.

"I'd be surprised if it were any other way," he told reporters, stressing that although the war in Georgia erupted just two months ago, the antagonists had already concluded a cease-fire deal and were meeting for face-to-face talks.

But the UK and most of the EU's former Communist members insisted that Russia has not fully complied with peace accord by leaving troops in parts of Abkhazia and South Ossetia previously administered by Georgia.

"First, Russia has to fulfill all its obligations and withdraw its troops from Georgia," said Estonian Prime Minister Andrus Ansip. "It means we cannot go on with negotiations between the European Union and Russia. First they have to fulfill all their obligations."

"In due course we can discuss the partnership and co-operation agreement. I don't think today is the day to restart that," British foreign minister David Miliband said, AP reports.

The partnership treaty talks were suspended at an extraordinary EU summit on 1 September, with both Russian and French senior political figures previously voicing expectations they would restart this month.

The Geneva dimension

With the Geneva talks to restart on 18 November - four days after the EU-Russia summit - the EU special envoy for the Georgia conflict, Pierre Morel, will explain to EU foreign ministers this Friday why the first round ended without a face-to-face meeting between Russian and Georgian delegates.

Speaking in Geneva on Wednesday, the French diplomat suggested the problem had to do with the status of the South Ossetian and Abkhazian delegations and how to include them in the talks.

Russia insists on having the Abkhaz and South Ossetian envoys at the table, but is the only country in the world to formally recognise the regions as independent states, with the BBC reporting the atmosphere at the first meeting was "surreal" and "almost farcical."

In Brussels, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili blamed Russia for "walking out" in Geneva, saying Moscow "has no interest whatsoever at this stage in any diplomatic process." Russia's top diplomat at the negotiations, deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin, said Georgia "derailed" the meeting.