EU Leaders Delay Partnership Talks with Russia

EU leaders said after a summit in Brussels on October 16 that a Russian withdrawal from the areas adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia was “an essential additional step” in the implementation of the August 12 and September 8 ceasefire agreements.

The EU leaders held off from resuming talks with Russia over a partnership agreement and instructed the European Commission “to continue a full in-depth evaluation of EU-Russia relations” ahead of the Russia-EU summit to be held in Nice on November 14.

It has been revealed at the EU foreign ministers’ meeting on October 13 that there was disagreement between EU member-states on whether the Russian withdrawal from the areas adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia was enough for the resumption of talks on a partnership agreement.

The two issues have been interlinked since September 1, when EU leaders took a decision, which reads: “Until troops have withdrawn to the positions held prior to 7 August, meetings on the negotiation of the Partnership Agreement [with Russia] will be postponed.”

“All 27 EU member states welcome the withdrawals while recognizing that they do not completely finish Russia’s commitment under the peace plan of August 12,” Deutsche Presse-Agentur (dpa) quoted British Foreign Minister David Miliband as saying on October 16.

Britain, along with the Baltic States and Poland, is reportedly in favor of a tougher stance with Russia when it comes to the fulfillment of its commitments undertaken under the ceasefire deals.

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