Putin, EU likely to remain at odds

Russian President Vladimir Putin and European Union leaders are likely to clash over issues ranging from Syria to trade, energy and human rights on Friday when Putin holds his first talks in Brussels since his re-election as president in May.

Relations between the 27-nation bloc and Russia, its main external supplier of energy and a key trading partner, have been soured by rows over gas pipelines and brewing trade disputes over cars and pigs.

European leaders have taken issue with the jailing of members of punk band Pussy Riot, prosecutions of opposition figures and laws restricting protests and foreign-funded organisations since Putin was re-elected.

EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton said in September such moves constituted "a trend that is of very serious concern to the European Union".

Russian and EU officials expect no breakthroughs in Putin's talks with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso and European Council President Herman Van Rompuy. Some commentators are surprised Putin is bothering to make the trip.

"The last few EU-Russia summits have achieved very little and for Putin I think it is really a box-ticking exercise and I am almost surprised he is going at all," said James Nixey, an expert on Russia at London's Chatham House think tank.

No meeting of minds is likely over Syria where Russia has been sharply at odds with Western powers over a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people since an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad began in March 2011.

France and other Western states have criticised Russia for vetoing three U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at pressuring Assad.

Energy to top agenda 

Energy, long a source of conflict between Brussels and Moscow, is set to dominate the Brussels talks.

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