Rusland denkt dat Verdrag van Lissabon onderhandelingen met EU makkelijker zal maken (en)
Moscow has raised the prospect that "yet another impasse" over the EU's future institutional set up - caused by the recent Irish No vote to the Lisbon Treaty - could affect talks on a new pact of strategic partnership between the union and Russia.
"With the Lisbon treaty in force and a clearer picture of how the EU is organised, it would have been easier to negotiate the pact," Russia's ambassador to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said on Monday (23 June).
Speaking to the Financial Times, Mr Chizhov expressed the "hope" that the 27-nation bloc finds a solution to treaty rejection so that long-delayed partnership talks with Russia do not face a new delay.
"Above all, we're not gloating. It's not entirely a sign of the EU's strength, of course, but we'll be closely following developments," the ambassador said.
Negotiations on a new "Partnership and Co-operation" pact are expected to get under way at the EU-Russia summit in Siberia later this week (26-27 June) - the first gathering under the leadership of recently elected Russian President Dmitrij Medvedev.
"We are prepared to deal with the EU as it is. With or without the Lisbon treaty, the EU is still there," Mr Chizhov concluded, underlining that no one should expect "a major shift of policy on the Russian side" under the new president.
"But I would say it will add a new personal touch, probably," he added.
Over the past few weeks, advances in bilateral relations became hostage to several demands tabled by EU member state Lithuania, which sought to link the process to security of energy supplies, judicial co-operation with Russia as well as to the Kremlin's role in frozen conflicts in Georgia and Moldova.
Earlier, the launch of negotiations had also been blocked by Poland as a result of a trade dispute. But Warsaw dropped its opposition after Moscow agreed to end its embargo on Polish exports of meat and meat products.
Efforts to launch negotiations on a strategic partnership treaty between the EU and Russia, covering areas such as the economy, external security and justice and home affairs, date back to 2006.
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