June 26, 2008	Thursday	Jamadi-us-Sani 21, 1429

MOSCOW: Russia seeks a “serious” pact with the European Union reaffirming it as part of Europe, President Dmitry Medvedev said ahead of a Russia-EU summit in Siberia.

The summit starting on Thursday in Khanty-Mansiysk is expected to launch long-delayed talks on a partnership agreement governing relations between Russia and the EU.

“It must be a serious document but at the same time not burdened with absolutely concrete things,” Medvedev said in the interview.

Russia wants a brief, legally binding pact followed by a string of more detailed agreements to prevent trade and business issues from being affected by political disputes, Medvedev’s foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko said.

“In terms of priorities for the relationship between Russia and the European Union — this is a relationship between the Russian Federation, a major European state which defines itself and conducts itself as part of Europe, and the European Union,” he said.—Reuters