"This summit will lay the grounds for an effective relationship with the new government", "to defend our values and promote mutual interests": Benita Ferrero-Waldner, commissioner for external relations, explains the purposes of the EU-Russia summit planned for June 26 and 27 in Khanty Mnsijsk, Siberia. It will be the first summit in which the Russian Federation will be represented by the new president Dmitri Medvedev; the EU will be represented by the current president of the EU Council Janez Jansa, the president of the EU Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and MEPs Ferrero-Waldner and Peter Mandelson (trade). "The main focus will be the start of the negotiations for a new partnership agreement that will take into account the changes that have occurred" since the Nineties. Russia, according to the EU Commission, "is an important global player" and an "important partner to face such challenges as food security, energy security, climate change". The agenda of the summit includes economic and foreign policy issues (Middle East, Afghanistan, Iran, Ukraine, Georgia)".
