MOSCOW (RIA Novosti, MN) - One of Russia's leading presidential envoys expressed new hope for the Russia-EU partnership and cooperation agreement, saying it will be extended for a year, and talked of "cautious optimism" in negotiations with Poland, just ahead of the Russia-EU summit taking place Friday, October 26 in Mafra, Portugal.

"This way, the lawful foundation of the relations between Russia and  the European Union will be preserved, and no legal vacuum will occur," Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the president's special envoy for EU relations, said.

The current Russia-EU agreement was signed in 1994. Negotiations on a new deal have been stalled by Poland, an EU member since 2004, over Russia's ban on Polish meat products, which Moscow said failed to meet sanitary and safety requirements.

Yastrzhembsky said it was regretful that the summit could not address these issues. "It is a pity that the principle of European solidarity is halting further progress," he said.

The Russian envoy said Moscow was cautiously optimistic about relations with Poland after the liberal opposition defeated the ruling conservatives in early parliamentary elections Sunday.

"Election campaign promises [of the liberals] give us cause for careful optimism about relations between Russia and Poland," Yastrzhembsky said. "We are seeing statements that they want to normalize relations with us."

Under the previous conservative government led by outgoing Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski, relations between Russia and Poland were complicated by a host of issues.

"It's not about concessions, but about the need to start talking," Yastrzhembsky said after being asked about what kind of concessions Russia and Poland were prepared to make.

"We couldn't even talk with [Poland's] previous government. Before talking about concessions, one needs to learn how to listen first."

Yastrzhembsky said Russia's growing potential allowed it to switch from the "donor-recipient" model of border cooperation with the EU to equal partnership in choosing and co-funding joint projects.

The diplomat said Russia was required to allocate at least 10 percent of the total funding, and Brussels would earmark 225 million euros for 2008-2013.

The Russian envoy said President Vladimir Putin would announce how much Russia planned to cover, during the summit in Portugal.

"The sum is expected to exceed the EU's minimum requirement," Yastrzhembsky said.

Other issues

The presidential envoy said the agenda for the Russia-EU summit in general did not contain any unexpected issues.

The sides will discuss the situation in Russia and the EU, which are linked by intensive cooperation. "Russia provides for energy stability and security of the European economy, and meets 26% of Europe's gas needs, 18% of oil and 17% of coal," Yastrzhembsky said.

Russia is the third trading partner for the EU after the United States and China. Trade between the partners is growing at an annual rate of 20-25%, he said.

The envoy said international issues to be discussed at lunch would involve the Middle East, Iran and Kosovo.

Kosovo

The status of Serbia's Kosovo province is the most sensitive international issue for Russia and the EU. Europe has backed Kosovo's drive for independence while Russia, a traditional Serbian ally, has warned it would set a dangerous international precedent.

Yastrzhembsky said Moscow saw that the EU was also divided on the issue. "Several European countries are concerned that proclaiming Kosovo's independence in an aggressive, unilateral way would spiral dramatic developments," he said.

December 10 has been set as the deadline for the troika - the EU, U.S. and Russia - to broker a solution on Kosovo and submit a report to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon. But Moscow has indicated it does not view the December date as a final deadline.

"We believe that the troika must first finish the work under its current mandate, and then the international community should be given time to analyze the situation and make further decisions," Yastrzhembsky said.

Kosovo Albanians, the majority of the province's population, have threatened to proclaim independence unilaterally if the talks fail.