BRUSSELS, August 22./ITAR-TASS/. The European Commission (EC) hopes to organize a trilateral meeting between EC President Jose Manuel Barroso and Russian and Ukrainian Presidents Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, EC spokeswoman Chantal Hughes said on Friday.

She confirmed that Barroso would not attend the Customs Union [of Belarus, Kazakhstan and Russia] meeting in Minsk on August 26 to which the European Commission head was invited along with the Ukrainian president. Instead of Barroso, the EU at the summit meeting will be represented by High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, EU Trade Commissioner Karel de Gucht and EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger.

The Kremlin press service reported on August 14 that Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso held telephone talks to discuss important issues of Russia-EU relations, including in the context of the consequences of Kiev’s signing of the EU association agreement. “Putin and Barroso arranged to continue contacts, in particular, at a possible personal meeting, the time and venue of which will be agreed on through diplomatic channels,” the report says.