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3/14/06

Deutsche Welle: EU Seeks New Energy Partnership With Russia

For the full report go to Deutsche Welle or click on link

EU Seeks New Energy Partnership With Russia

European ministers called Tuesday for a "new partnership" with Russia to secure EU energy imports, after Moscow's natural gas war with Ukraine hit the bloc's supplies in January. The energy ministers, meeting in Brussels, want to persuade Russia to finally ratify the Energy Charter Treaty -- which sets the rules for the international energy trade -- as a sign of goodwill for the future.

"We need a new energy partnership with Russia," said Austrian Economy Minister Martin Bartenstein, who chaired the meeting as current EU president. "Ideally we would want to avoid the sort of things that happened at the beginning of this year or at least be able to defuse and resolve them quickly," he told reporters.

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