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Medvedev hosts EU leaders in Russian far east, amid tensions
May 21, 2009, 10:53 GMT
Moscow - As a prelude to official EU-Russia talks due to start Friday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has received EU leaders at an informal dinner in the far-eastern city of Khabarovsk.
Present in Khabarovsk, which is seven time zones east of Moscow on the Chinese border, were European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, and current EU president Vaclav Klaus, President of the Czech Republic.
On the table for discussion during the two-day summit are the global economic crisis, negotiations over a new EU-Russia partnership agreement, and the mutual opening of markets.
The EU has recently shown concern over what it sees as protectionist trade policies being enacted by the Kremlin, and Russia has made similar accusations in return. Few observers expect much progress from the talks.
According to Russian reports, the signing of a document following the talks was not planned.
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