Poland has indicated that it is prepared to lift its veto on the start of talks on a partnership pact between the European Union and Russia.
"The [European] Commission has indeed received indications from the Polish authorities that Poland is in a position to give its agreement to the launching of negotiations," European Commission spokesman Johannes Laitenberger told a news conference in Brussels.
Poland blocked the talks in November 2006 in response to a Russian embargo on Polish meat and vegetable products.
Polish Prime Minister Jaroslaw Kaczynski said today Warsaw would lift its veto if Moscow ended the embargo.
Russia's state animal and plant health watchdog, Rosselkhoznadzor, responded by saying its ban on Polish imports could not be the subject of a political tradeoff with Warsaw.
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso declared it was still too early to say with certainty that the partnership talks will start soon.
Copyright (c) 2006. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036. www.rferl.org
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