Forex

Russian and EU leaders have met in the Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiysk - the first such summit since Dmitry Medvedev became Russian president.


The two-day summit is being held to launch negotiations on a new partnership and co-operation agreement.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Javier Solana said he hoped the summit would mark a "change of tone" in relations.

However, a fresh row with Finland threatened to overshadow any attempts to improve ties.

Mr Solana told the AFP news agency that the summit would mark the beginning of the EU's relationship with Mr Medvedev.

"I don't think there will be a profound change - a change of substance - but it's true that there will be a different tone," he said.



Energy focus


Russia's ambassador to Brussels, Vladimir Chizhov, spoke of "opening a new chapter in the relationship between Russia and the EU".

The host city is at the heart of Russia's oil boom and more than 4,000km (2,500 miles) from Brussels.

Energy supplies are a key issue, with the EU getting about a quarter of its natural gas from Russia.

Russia is the EU's third biggest trading partner - half of Russian exports go to the 27-nation bloc.

Vladimir Putin, Mr Medvedev's predecessor in the Kremlin, and now Russia's prime minister, is not expected to attend the summit.

The EU delegation is headed by Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner and Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson.


The European Commission says it wants the new partnership agreement to establish "a level playing field for energy relations".

Russia's previous gas rows with its former Soviet neighbours - especially Ukraine - have made Europe nervous, the BBC's James Rodgers reports from Moscow.

According to the commission, the summit talks will also cover financial market stability, the rise of sovereign wealth funds, climate change, energy security and the current food crisis


Cloud overhead


Previous talks were delayed for 18 months because of the vetoes imposed by Eastern European members of the EU bloc.

The latest country to overshadow talks is Finland - a major Russian trading partner - which announced on Thursday that it was considering retaliation for Russian moves to increase export duties on raw timber.

The country said Russia's measures - which it says are designed to bolster the country's paper-processing industry - would cost up to 16,000 jobs in Finland.

Finland's prime minister is reported to have written to Mr Barroso, saying that his country expected the matter of wood duties to be at the top of the summit's agenda.