Commission heads to Russia for crisis talks 

"This meeting is in no way a substitute to the EU-Russia summit," said Vladimir Chizhov, the Russia's ambassador to the EU, speaking to the press in Brussels yesterday (3 February). The meeting had actually been in the pipeline since the last EU-Russia summit in Nice in November last year, he explained.

Chizhov confirmed that Commission Vice-Presidents Günter Verheugen (entreprise and industry), Jacques Barrot (justice and home affairs), Siim Kallas (administration and anti-fraud) and Antonio Tajani (transport) would be part of the EU delegation. External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner, Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas, Energy Commissioner Andris Piebalgs, Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Joaquín Almunia and Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton are also expeceted to accompany President Barroso to Moscow.

"The focus will primarily be on economic issues, in particular in view of the upcoming G20 meeting in London early April," said Chizhov, adding that bilateral EU-Russia issues would be addressed too. Discussions over a new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (a new basic EU-Russia treaty), which were postponed and later restarted after the brief Russia-Georgia war in August 2008, will form an essential part of their work.

Chizhov said he hoped to reach a common position with the EU on tackling the financial crisis ahead of the G20 meeting in London on 2 April, which will address reform of the global financial system. Russian WTO accession talks are also a "priority", he said, adding that "Russia expects EU support" on the dossier.

The Russian ambassador also underlined that the recent gas crisis had done "no harm" to EU-Russia relations. All the parties involved suffered losses, he said, adding that "the crisis should have never happened". The diplomat also stressed that the standoff was not a supply crisis, but rather a transit problem, insisting that Russia's reliability as a gas supplier should not be questioned. 

The ambassador declined to comment on a proposal tabled by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin last week in Davos to replace the current Energy Charter  with a new 'Energy Security Pact' (EurActiv 29/01/09). However, he underlined that the chances of Russia ratifying the charter in its current form are "minimal". While he conceded that the recent crisis showed that the charter's early-warning system had improved over the last two years, it also made clear that the agreement cannot not function properly unless transit countries are also included in the text.

The next EU-Russia summit will take place on 21-22 May, focusing on energy security and Russian WTO accession.