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Putin arrives in Brussels for Russia-EU summit

The summit will end with a joint press conference of the Russian and EU leaders

© EPA/OLIVIER HOSLET

BRUSSELS, January 28. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian President Vladimir Putin has arrived in Brussels to participate in the 32nd Russia-EU summit.

The meetings will take place at the headquarters of the Council of the European Union, where Putin will meet with Council President Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso. After being photographed together, the leaders will participate in the RF-EU meeting. The talks will continue during the working dinner.

The summit will end with a joint press conference of the Russian and EU leaders.

The summit originally planned for the end of last year was postponed till January on Brussel’s initiative. Instead of planned two days, it will last one day. The Russian side’s corrections were accepted to have more time to discuss various important topics related to bilateral cooperation.

The Russian delegation consist of Vice-Premier Igor Shuvalov, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, presidential aides Yuri Ushakov and Andrei Belousov and Russian permanent representative in Brussels Vladimir Chizhov.

No signing of documents is planned for the meeting.

It will be a rather informal meeting, without a fixed agenda, the Russian leader's aide Ushakov told reporters. A wide range of issues will be discussed, he said.

The leaders are planned to discuss key issues of the bilateral agenda with an emphasis on trade and economic cooperation, prospects for visa-free travel for Russian and EU citizens, cooperation in the energy sector and talks on a new basic agreement.

The sides will also discuss ways to consolidate strategic partnership between Russia and the European Union and possibilities to join Eurasian and European integration processes, the Kremlin source said.

Under discussion will be also key world economic issues, taking into consideration Russia's G20 presidency in 2013 and G8 presidency this year. The sides will also exchange views on international and regional security, including Iran's nuclear programmed and the situation in Syria.

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