Environment, Terror Top Russia-EU Agenda

[buzzsaw_23]

Environment, Terror Top Russia-EU Agenda

Tuesday October 4, 2005 12:31 PM

By BETH GARDINER

Associated Press Writer

LONDON (AP) - Russian President Vladimir Putin met European Union leaders in London on Tuesday for talks on expanding cooperation in the fight against crime, including terrorism, and strengthening trade ties.

Prime Minister Tony Blair, whose nation holds the rotating EU presidency, is also pushing for action on global warming.

Russia, nervous about the EU's economic and political outreach, is wary that Europe is gaining sway in areas Moscow sees as its own sphere of influence, including Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia and Uzbekistan.

``There's a lack of clarity on both sides about what each side wants from the other,'' said Margot Light, emeritus professor at the London School of Economics. ``They know what they don't want.''

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5320268,00.html