LOWERCASEBRUSSELS, Belgium — The European Union, dependent on Russia for much of its energy, decided Monday to resume major economic and political negotiations with Moscow that were frozen after the invasion of Georgia.
The EU gets roughly a third of its oil and about 40 percent of its natural gas imports from Russia.
EU foreign ministers overruled objections from Lithuania, which claimed that Russia continues to violate the EU-brokered peace deal that ended the Georgian war in early August.
France, which holds the EU presidency, had pushed hard to relaunch the talks in an effort to improve relations with Moscow.
Russia threatened last week to deploy short-range missiles close to the Polish and Lithuanian borders in response to U.S. plans for anti-missile installations in eastern Europe.
The negotiations are expected to cover issues ranging from counterterrorism cooperation to greater European access to Russia’s lucrative energy sector.
Moscow has been resisting EU pressure that it open up its energy sector to more foreign investment.
“Any concessions by Russia are out of the question,” Ambassador Vladimir Chizhov told the Itar-Tass news agency.
Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili said it was too early to determine what Monday’s decision meant, and EU engagement with Russia could benefits her country.
EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said no date had been set for the negotiations.
———— Associated Press writers Barbara Schaeder, Slobodan Lekic and Constant Brand contributed to this story.
