The European Union and Russia are unlikely to agree a new cooperation policy before a summit on Nov. 11, but Russian President Vladimir Putin will still attend, the Dutch foreign minister said on Tuesday. Putin is due at an EU-Russia summit in the Hague, and the Dutch EU presidency had hoped to finalise a new programme setting out relations between the two sides ahead of his visit. The EU has been redefining its relations with Moscow in the wake of the bloc's May enlargement, which increased trade between the two partners and gave the EU new direct borders with Russia in several places. The new relationship is to be based on four "common spaces", or areas of joint interest and concern -- a "space" on the economy, one on external security, one on justice and home affairs, and one on culture, research and education. The difficulty arises because Moscow wants to negotiate each policy area separately, while the EU insists the four go through as a single package. "All participating countries emphasised that the four spaces have to be kept together as a single package...and we have to show our resolve in securing previously stated ambitions," Dutch Foreign Minister Bernard Bot said after a meeting of his EU counterparts. --More 0008 Local Time 2108 GMT
