LITHUANIA:EU FOREIGN ministers may not be able to agree a long-delayed mandate required to begin partnership talks with Russia next week due to continued opposition from Lithuania.
The Baltic state maintained its veto over the start of negotiations at a meeting of EU ambassadors yesterday, citing concerns over Russia's policy on energy supplies and other matters.
"There was no agreement today and it is not clear that there will be before EU ministers meet in Luxembourg next Tuesday," said an EU diplomat.
The start of talks on a comprehensive new partnership agreement between the EU and Russia has been delayed for about 18 months due to opposition from Poland. But Warsaw recently dropped its opposition after Moscow lifted an embargo on Polish meat products.
Lithuania however has toughened its stance over concerns about Russia's decision to cut off oil supplies to a refinery based in its territory. Russia says supplies were cut off because a pipeline was damaged but Vilnius says Moscow ordered the supplies cut when a Russian firm lost a tender process to acquire the refinery.
Diplomats said Lithuania had also raised concerns about the disappearance of a businessman in the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad and Moscow's relations with the ex-Soviet republics of Georgia and Moldova.