Van Rompuy: Differences with Russia need to be clarified

The President of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, has said that the 32nd EU-Russia summit which will take place in Brussels on Tuesday is an opportunity "for a genuine joint reflection on the nature and direction of the EU-Russia strategic partnership." "Our common interests are many and they encourage us to work together constructively. We have also had however a number of differences which need to be discussed and clarified," he said in a statement. On his part, President of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso said "both Russia and the European Union have much to gain by strengthening our cooperation as strategic partners - but for this to be successful, we need mutual understanding and strategic trust." "This is what we will try to consolidate at our next summit, by an open discussion on our common interests, as well as on our differences and the best ways to overcome them," he said in a statement. Analysts, however, opine that the short two-and-a-half hour summit reflects the tension in ties between Brussels and Moscow due to differences over Syria and Ukraine. According to media reports, the EU also cancelled a dinner with Putin which was to take place on Monday night. EU-Russia discussions are expected to include the areas of rule of law, human rights and fundamental freedoms, and key foreign affairs challenges, such as Syria and Iran. "The aim is to improve and intensify cooperation between the two parties, but also in existing multilateral formats. Addressing challenges such as the Syrian crisis, the Middle East Peace Process, the Iranian nuclear issue and other common interests remains crucial to achieve the common goal of peace and security in our common neighbourhood as well as internationally," noted a separate EU statement. Russia remains the EU's third most important trading partner (after the US and China), with 123 billion euro (USD 168 billion) in exported goods to Russia and 213 billion euro (USD 291 billion) in imported goods in 2012. At Monday's summit the EU will be represented by Van Rompuy and Barroso, and Catherine Ashton, EU High Representative Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, will also take part. Russia will be represented by President Vladimir Putin accompanied by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.