EU, Russia to talk energy, democracy before G8

SOCHI, Russia, May 25 (Reuters) Russian President Vladimir Putin meets EU officials today for talks expected to focus on Western concerns about energy security and Russian democracy, setting the tone for a Group of Eight meeting this summer.

Putin, who chairs the G8 group of industrialised nations for the first time, has placed energy security at the heart of the agenda for the July summit in his hometown of St Petersburg hoping to use the topic to boost Russia's international profile.

But brief disruptions of gas supplies to Europe in January amid Moscow's pricing row with its neighbour Ukraine have dismayed many Europeans. Russian state-controlled gas giant Gazprom supplies a quarter of Europe's gas needs.

''It would be very difficult to imagine the full success of the St Petersburg G8 summit without positive results now in Sochi,'' European Commission President Manuel Barroso told Reuters on the plane to the Black Sea resort.

''I am very confident about this EU-Russia summit. I hope it will be a success.'' Barroso, Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schuessel and other EU officials arrived late on Wednesday.

Apart from energy concerns, Putin's drive to strengthen the Kremlin's grip on the media, regional governors and economy has provoked Western concerns about Russia backsliding on democracy.

U S Vice President Dick Cheney angered Russian officials earlier this month by calling on Moscow to return to the path of democratic reform and accused its leaders of using oil and gas as tools of ''intimidation and blackmail'' against neighbours.

Kremlin officials say they are trying to bring order after the chaos of the first post-Soviet decade.

However, many in the Kremlin see Gazprom as a new instrument for boosting Russia's geopolitical influence after the loss of prestige following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.

Putin has boosted the Kremlin's control over Gazprom and encourages the company to expand outside Russia. He has warned that Gazprom's expansion should not be hindered and that European fears of dependency on Russia are overblown.

EU officials want Gazprom's gas export monopoly broken and European companies want access to the pipelines that Gazprom controls.

Apart from stable energy supplies and the state of democracy inside Russia, talks are also likely to include Iran's nuclear ambitions and Russia's frosty relations with neighbours in Eastern Europe.

EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, External Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will also attend the meeting.

Deals are likely to be signed on simplifying visa rules and making the deportation of illegal immigrants easier. The sides will also discuss how to replace a document that makes up the cornerstone of EU-Russia relations, the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement, which expires in 2007.

REUTERS DH RN0522