Europe Lost in Search for Unity on Russia

With Baltic and British leaders urging punitive measures against Russia, and France and Germany calling for dialogue with Moscow, a summit meant to display unity among Europeans is exposing the divisions that haunt the continent as it faces new dangers in the aftermath of the war in Georgia.European leaders papered over their policy differences yesterday by vowing a “vigilant” watch over the Georgia situation, forgoing the imposition of sanctions against Moscow and vowing that talks regarding cooperation with the Kremlin would be “postponed.” Meanwhile, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, proposed a sanctions regime of his own, calling for an international arms embargo against Georgia until the Tbilisi leadership changes.Yesterday’s emergency European Union meeting was convened by France, which holds the rotating presidency of the 27-member group, in an attempt to hash out a united policy regarding changes in the continent in the aftermath of the war in Georgia’s separatist region of South Ossetia. Divisions were obvious, however, even before the leaders arrived in Brussels for the half-day summit: Warsaw called for sanctions against Moscow, London urged halting cooperation between the E.U. and Russia, and Paris stressed “dialogue” with the Kremlin.The European Union will “examine carefully and deeply the situation and the different dimensions” of its relation with Russia, its leaders said in a statement. “We expect Russia to act responsibly, in line with all its commitments,” the statement said, adding that its signers “will remain vigilant.” The text mentioned no sanctions, and even before talks started yesterday, the E.U.’s foreign-policy point man, Javier Solana, had said sanctions “are not on the agenda” of the summit.“Until troops have withdrawn to the positions held prior to 7 August, meetings on the negotiation of the Partnership Agreement will be postponed,” yesterday’s E.U. statement said, falling short of a British proposal to suspend altogether the planned September 14 talks to update the 10-year-old agreement. “In light of Russia’s actions, we should suspend negotiations on a successor to the partnership and cooperation agreement,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Brown said yesterday, before departing for Brussels. Poland and other Baltic E.U. members urged summit participants to enact even tougher sanctions.While Russia’s violation of Georgia’s territorial integrity was “unacceptable,” Chancellor Merkel of Germany said that “threads of dialogue with Russia should not be severed.” And France’s prime minister, François Fillon, said President Sarkozy planned a new round of mediation with Russia. “Either we want to relaunch the Cold War, point our finger at Russia, isolate it, and stamp on it, as was the case for a decade,” Mr. Fillon told French radio, “or we choose the option of dialogue.”Mr. Sarkozy’s diplomacy has failed so far to convince Russia to withdraw all of its troops from Georgia’s territory, including the key Black Sea port city of Poti. “Perhaps our French is not that good,” Russia’s U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, facetiously told reporters last week, as Russian, American, and European diplomats quibbled over the precise meaning of a six-point plan negotiated by Mr. Sarkozy to end the war. Russia argued that it has acted according to the plan’s provisions.“Today’s European Union summit should reveal a lot,” Mr. Lavrov said yesterday in Moscow. “We expect a choice to be made that is based on the core interests of Europe,” he said. “For a start, it would be appropriate to introduce an embargo on deliveries of arms to this regime until a different authority turns Georgia into a normal state.” He accused America of sending arms to Georgia in the guise of humanitarian deliveries — a charge the White House had dismissed.

Europe Lost in Search for Unity on Russia

Europe Lost in Search for Unity on Russia

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