EU to discuss energy with Putin
By Jerome Hart,WNS EU Correspondent
LONDON - European Union leaders are meeting in southern Finland to discuss how to ensure stable supplies of energy. They will be joined for dinner by Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose country supplies a quarter of the gas and oil consumed in the EU. The leaders will urge Mr Putin to improve conditions for EU companies to invest in Russian energy projects. They will also call on Russia to find the killer of the murdered journalist, Anna Politkovskaya. The summit's Finnish hosts say its purpose is to encourage the EU to "speak with one voice" in its energy dealings with Russia.
British Prime Minister Tony Blair has urged his fellow leaders to put climate change at the centre of their discussions. In a pre-summit letter to European leaders, Mr Blair said only 10 to 15 years remained before a "catastrophic tipping point" was reached in global climate change. The European Commission wants to avoid a situation where Russia sells energy to one EU country on one set of terms, and to another on less advantageous terms. They also want European investors to have the same access to the Russian energy market as Russian companies have to Europe's market, and the ability to use Russian pipelines to export any gas and oil they produce in Russia.
Before they meet Mr Putin, the leaders will also discuss proposals for increasing energy imports from the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Caspian, Middle East and Gulf regions. A Russian official quoted by Reuters said Mr Putin was ready to address European concerns about energy and that Moscow expected the discussion would take place in the "traditional good atmosphere".
posted by wnsworld @ 10:23 AM
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