Brussels, 19/10/2009 (Agence Europe) - Preparation for the EU/Russia summit (18 November in Stockholm) was the focus of the Permanent Partnership Council held in Brussels on Monday 19 October, attended by the Russian foreign minister. The EU delegation was headed by Carl Bildt and Benito Ferrero-Waldner. The Stockholm summit will focus on preparing for the Copenhagen climate change conference in December, on negotiations underway with a view to a new bilateral strengthened partnership agreement, as well as on international issues (Afghanistan, Iran, Middle East, South Caucasus, etc.). All these subjects were also discussed on Monday with Mr Lavrov. As far as negotiations on the new “post-PCA” (partnership and cooperation agreement) agreement is concerned, the Russian minister confirmed when speaking to the press that he hoped his country would reach a “balanced” agreement. On the subject of climate change, he underlined the importance of reaching an agreement in Copenhagen “acceptable” for all parties. “Chances of achieving an agreement are there”, he said. When asked about the gas crisis last winter, he promised Russia would respect all its provision commitments. “As far as Russia is concerned, we guarantee we shall do everything we have pledged to do concerning gas supplies in Europe, as we have always done in recent years”, he said. At the same time, he pointed a finger of blame at Ukraine, speaking of “transit-related problems”. Such problems must be resolved and Moscow is willing to contribute to this, the Russian minister said, calling for a tripartite early warning mechanism between “Moscow, Brussels (EU) and Kiev”. Russia would also like the EU to give a precise road map as well as a timetable for abolition of visas. In 2004, Commission President Romano Prodi, he told journalists, had promised to liberalise the visa regime in 2008, but we are now in 2009 and the only thing that has been obtained is a visa facilitation agreement. Ms Ferrero-Waldner replied that the abolition of visas was a “long term objective” and that the EU was not able at this stage to give a precise timetable. On the subject of trade, the EU continues to support Russia's accession to the WTO but the 27 call on Moscow to clarify its real intentions with regard to the WTO following its decision to suspend its individual membership talks in Geneva (the aim, it seems, is now joint accession with Belarus and Kazakhstan in the form of a customs union). The EU is also very critical towards the many “protectionist” measures that Russia has taken recently. Europeans intend to raise this question directly with President Dmitri Medvedev at the Stockholm summit. (H.B./transl.jl)