Three questions that Europe must ask about Russia By Katinka Barysch * The EU-Russia summit in Samara marks the start of a new era in EU-Russia relations: less ambitious but hopefully also more constructive. * Poland, Germany and the 25 other EU countries are not going to find a common position on Russia for some time. * In the meantime, the EU should concentrate on those aspects of the relationship that it can influence. It must have an urgent debate about its energy ties with Russia, especially the misleading concept of ‘reciprocity’. “A complete failure; a sign of a deepening crisis; a step towards a new Cold War” – these are just some of phrases with which Europe’s newspapers have chosen to write about the forthcoming EU-Russia summit. In fact, it will be none of these things. Expectations of the meeting are now so low that any positive statement coming from Samara on Friday will look like a success. Moreover, there is too much at stake for all parties involved to let the summit end in frosty disagreement. José Manuel Barroso, the Commission President, will want to display at least a semblance of EU unity, having failed to persuade Poland to lift its veto on EU-Russia talks on a new bilateral treaty. Angela Merkel has made improved relations between the EU and Russia one of the hallmarks of her stint as EU president. And Vladimir Putin will be reluctant to embarrass Merkel, knowing that Germany is not only Russia’s weightiest partner but also it best friend in the EU. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that EU-Russia relations are in trouble: angry mobs outside the Estonian embassy in Moscow; Russian energy deals in Central Asia that seek to frustrate the EU’s hopes of diversifying its energy supplies; trade disputes over meat and raw timber; concerns over the murders of Vladimir Litvinenko and Anna Politkovskaya; Kremlin threats towards the Czech Republic and Poland over missile defence; disagreements over Ukraine’s EU aspirations and the ‘frozen’ conflicts in Georgia; thinly veiled warnings to Russians not to attend a London business conference; and Russia’s threat to veto UN plans for Kosovo’s independence. The list of disagreements is substantial and getting longer. Russia’s political elite has never loved the EU. Now many deem it acceptable to be rude about it. I heard one Russian politician recently describe the EU as “the area
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