According to a high-ranking official in the Russian Foreign Ministry, the request to postpone the summit is related to the delay in the formation of the Commission of European Communities. The Foreign Ministry believes it would have a negative impact on the preparation of the summit.
The Netherlands, the country that presides in the EU at the moment, met the Russian proposal with understanding, said the Foreign Ministry official in an interview with RIA Novosti.
His report confirms the information disseminated previously by various international mass media indicating that the summit will be postponed. In particular, some reports stated that Moscow had requested to postpone the summit for several weeks.
Earlier, diplomatic sources in Moscow announced that during the summit the participants would discuss and adopt documents in four "spheres" of cooperation between Russia and the EU member states - economy, freedom and justice, security, and science, education and culture.
The sources underlined that both sides planned to adopt all documents as "one package" and to emphasize the quality of the drafts regulating relations in all areas of cooperation.
On Friday, French President Jacques Chirac stated that Russia and 25 EU countries planned to create four "spheres" of cooperation. Two areas of cooperation and their corresponding "road maps" have been already defined and regulated. The sides still have to adjust some aspects of the remaining two "spheres" and create the corresponding "road maps" for them, the French president said.
He was not specific about what areas in particular he was talking about, but expressed confidence that all remaining problems would be solved in the near future.
