The summit between Russia and the European Union took place in Moscow on 29 May. During the summit, Vladimir Putin, José Maria Aznar and Romano Prodi tackled the issues of the security of the European continent, the fight against international terrorism, economic and commercial relations and the reinforcement of reciprocal cooperation on energy matters. All the leading exponents of the Russian government participated in the official talks, as also did, on behalf of the European Union, its senior representative for foreign policy and security, Javier Solana, and the European Commissioners Patten (foreign relations), De Palacio (trasport and energy) and Lamy (trade). The crucial problem that the summit had to address, and seek to resolve, concerned the Russian Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, bordering on Poland and Lithuania. Following EU enlargement, it will be necessary to establish a special regime for the inhabitants of Kaliningrad, including the system of granting visas to them to enable them to travel to Russia. On the terms of this deal Russia and the EU failed to reach an agreement. The Kremlin declared that the primary objective of the Russian Federation consists in accelerating the process of integration in Europe and the West, sanctioned by the recent signing of the accord with NATO.
