01/08/2007 (Agence Europe) - The future Slovenian presidency of the European Union Council during the first half of 2008 aims to conclude talks, during its presidency, on a new partnership agreement between the EU and Russia, said Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitri Rupel, cited by the Russian press agency, Itar-Tass. “We hope this objective will be reached by the EU-Russia summit scheduled for next year”, Mr Rupel told Itar-Tass. Negotiations on the new agreement have still not begun due to the Polish veto (a unanimous decision is needed in Council to approve the Commission's negotiating brief), further to the Russian embargo against imports of Polish meat. “We must ensure talks are concluded on economic cooperation between the EU and Russia. This is not an easy process. There are problems that Slovenia should resolve with some of the EU member states”, the Slovenian minister said. The new agreement is intended to replace the current Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) which is due to expire at the end of this year, but which will be kept provisionally in place until the new agreement takes effect. (hb)