Brown seeking EU-Russia freeze

Russian troops remain on patrol in Georgian territory

Monday, 01, Sep 2008 11:30

Gordon Brown will call on the EU to suspend its partnership agreement discussions with Russia at a crisis meeting in Brussels later today.

A Downing Street spokesperson told politics.co.uk the UK wants to reassess a range of cooperation areas in the EU's relations with Russia.

EU leaders are meeting in Brussels for a three-hour summit this afternoon on how to respond to Russia's actions in Georgia.

Moscow is not expected to be punished with economic sanctions over its military presence in the Caucasus state and diplomatic recognition of breakaway provinces South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

But the EU will push to condemn Russia's actions with a strongly-worded joint statement. And, if Mr Brown gets its way, negotiations on a revised EU-Russia partnership and cooperation agreement (PCA) could be put on hold as a result.

Russian officials had met with their EU counterparts at a summit earlier in the summer, when it was agreed to revise the 1997 PCA. Talks are due to begin on September 15th but are now under threat.

Speaking before the meeting began, Mr Brown told reporters that after developments in the last few weeks "it cannot be business as usual" with Russia.

He said the British government would do what it could to help Georgia by giving humanitarian aid, ensuring free trade and facilitating visas of Georgian citizens.

Meanwhile French president Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country currently holds the EU's rotating presidency, said Russia had to make a "fundamental choice" in terms of its relationship with Europe.

The AFP news agency quoted him as saying in the official invitation to the meeting: "Russia's attachment to a relationship of understanding and cooperation with the rest of Europe is in question."

Analysts say the EU's 27 member states hold widely divergent views on how to deal with Russia's actions. Some, like France and Germany, advocate less confrontational methods.

This may affect the outcome of today's meeting. Downing Street warned there are a "number of views within the EU" and that all should "wait and see" until this evening.

The prime minister said he expected to see the EU united to condemn Russia's "totally unacceptable" actions.

"I think we are finding that the 27 members of the EU, far from being divided on these central issues, are wholly united," he added.

Mr Brown backs the US and eastern European states in arguing for a tougher approach. Yesterday he called in the Observer newspaper for a "root and branch review" of relations with Russia after "aggressive" actions by Moscow.