(last updated: 6 February) On 5 February the third-country meeting between the EU Troika and the Russian Federation took place in Moscow. The EU was represented by Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on behalf of the Presidency, the EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana and the head of the EU Commission's Delegation in Moscow, Marco Franco. Portuguese Foreign Minister Luís Amado was also present on behalf of the subsequent Portuguese EU Presidency. The Troika delegation was received in Moscow by the Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergey E. Lavrov.
During the morning the talks chiefly took stock of the current state of EU-Russian relations. Federal Minister Steinmeier said that the deficits in European-Russian cooperation had been openly discussed and that the two sides were now looking towards their common future. Here, the talks on the new Partnership and Cooperation Agreement were the special focus. Mr Steinmeier emphasized that this new agreement had to take account of developments in the two sides' partnership in order to truly make the best of the potential for cooperation. In particular the fields of education, research and science, and justice and economics were to be considered in the new agreement. Both Mr Steinmeier and his Russian counterpart Lavrov expressed their hope that obstacles blocking the start of talks on the new agreement would soon be removed, and mentioned that they had also discussed possible ways of achieving this.
Another item on the meeting's agenda was energy. Federal Minister Steinmeier stressed that the new agreement was also to contain a substantial chapter on the energy partnership. The Russian foreign minister, while emphasizing that the current energy relations were fully functional, also did not rule out the inclusion of the Energy Charter's principles in the new agreement. Russia, he said, did not reject these principles, but did disagree with some of the Charter's proposed mechanisms, for example in connection with transit and investment.
The talks during the joint luncheon centred on international issues, including Iran, Kosovo and the Middle East. Only last Friday UN Special Envoy Martti Ahtisaari presented his proposal for a solution to the issue of Kosovo's status. Following their meeting in Moscow, the EU and Russia appealed to Belgrade and Pristina to consider the proposal "carefully and responsibly". They said they themselves intended to remain in contact on the issue. Federal Foreign Minister Steinmeier thus promised to report to his Russian colleagues on the outcome of the Troika visit to Belgrade on Wednesday (7 February).
On Tuesday, 6 February, the EU Troika will travel on to Kiev, where the European delegation will hold third-country talks with acting Ukrainian Foreign Minister Volodymyr Ohrysko. Meetings are also scheduled with President Viktor Yushchenko and Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych.
