Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in the Netherlands on Thursday for a Russia-EU summit at which efforts to launch a new partnership appeared likely to be overshadowed by the disputed election in Ukraine. Putin's arrival for the half-day meeting was delayed more than an hour by fog. With the EU and the United States strongly criticizing the election in the former Soviet republic, Putin has come under fire in the West for rushing to congratulate Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as the winner. Putin's effort to legitimize a result seen in the West as the product of a slanted campaign and fraudulent vote put him at odds with Europe over Ukraine, a country both Russia and the EU consider strategically important. The summit in The Hague will be Putin's first meeting with new European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, who warned Wednesday of "consequences" for Ukraine unless it conducts a "complete review of the electoral process." Anticipating questions about his support for Yanukovych, who wants closer ties with Moscow _ while many Russian politicians see his election rival Viktor Yushchenko as a dangerous foe _ Putin's EU relations aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky said his boss would not be evasive. "If our partners at the summit raise a question, there has never been an instance that Russia and its partners would evade a discussion," Yastrzhembsky said on Ekho Moskvy radio on Wednesday. He said the issue "is not the primary one in relations between Russia and the European Union." --more 1414 Local Time 1114 GMT
