Top officials of the European Union were to meet with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and other Russian officials on Monday in talks expected to focus on energy issues. EU concerns about Russia's reliability as an energy supplier have sharpened over the past year after Russian price disputes with transit countries have resulted in interruptions of oil and natural gas shipments to Western Europe, the Associated Press reported. The EU delegation includes Commissioner for External Relations Benita Ferrero-Waldner, foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the foreign minister of Germany, which currently holds the EU's rotating chairmanship.
