Relatie tussen EU en Rusland onder druk door crisis in Oekraïne (en)

EUOBSERVER / THE HAGUE - Russian President Vladimir Putin and EU representatives struggled to conceal diverging geopolitical interests over Ukraine on Thursday (25 November) during a summit in The Hague.

Meeting for the 14th EU-Russia summit, representatives from Moscow and Brussels tried to show some common ground as Ukraine saw its fourth full day of protests following Sunday's Presidential elections.

With fears growing that the ongoing crisis could plunge the country into violence, both The EU and Russia stressed the need for a peaceful resolution and called for objections to find voice via the courts.

"We do agree a peaceful approach", said current chair of the European Council and Dutch Prime minister Jan Peter Balkenende.

Mr Putin echoed these words pressing for parties to deal with "all issues connected with the elections within the framework of the acting constitution".

But the key issue of whether the Central Election Committee's verdict that pro-Moscow candidate Viktor Yanukovich won the election or not remains contested.

In spite of protests from the EU and the US, the Committee announced on Wednesday that Mr Yanukovich had won - despite international observers ruling the vote was not free and fair.

The EU had urged the Committee to investigate irregularities before declaring any result.

"The elections have not met international standards and therefore the EU cannot recognise the results", said Mr Balkenende.

Russia was quick to recognise the results.

But amid the attempts not to deepen the crisis further, differences of opinion were manifest as the two sides again traded thinly veiled allegations of interference.

"We have no moral right to push any European state to mayhem", Mr Putin said hinting that the EU's actions were not in Ukraine's interests.

`Common spaces'

On bilaterial issues too, Brussels and Moscow tried to emphasise the positive amid slow progress in agreeing a key strategic agreement.

There was no agreement on creating four `common spaces' in spite of months of negotiations.

The EU again refused to accept a deal until all the spaces are agreed, but in a compromise agreed to implement trade agreements and to set up a European Training College in Moscow before formal adoption.

A deal was also reached setting up fora to discuss Human Rights and issues connected with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

However, diplomats said there was some progress on the issue of non-proliferation and Russia's recognition of borders with Latvia and Estonia.

"We have asked people to go away and make rapid progress", said a Commission spokesperson.

A deal on the `four spaces' is now expected by May.