a-year summit comes as Moscow and Brussels are struggling to forge a new partnership agreement that would tighten ties between Russia and the EU, which are becoming increasingly interdependent economically. Russia provides much of the energy for the rest of the continent, and more than half of its exports go to the expanded EU. But EU concerns about Russia's direction under Putin have been a major obstacle, along with wariness on each side over the other's intentions in the former Soviet republics that lie between Russia and the 25-nation bloc. Moscow, still smarting over loss of its Soviet-era empire, resents Western interest and influence near its borders _ as evidenced by its sharp criticism of the West for questioning the official poll results in Ukraine. Russia's Foreign Ministry lashed out Tuesday at the EU and the Netherlands, which holds the union's presidency and is hosting the summit, saying a statement it attributed to Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot amounted to incitement of Ukraine's opposition to "the illegal use of force." The partnership Russia and the EU are plotting is based on cooperation in four so-called "common spaces" _ economic; freedom, security and justice; external security; and research and education. On Tuesday, an EU official said there was tentative deal on the last one, but not yet on the other three, and both sides have played down hopes for an agreement on all four at the summit, which was postponed earlier this month. Along with Barroso, Putin is to meet with the current president of the European Council, Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende, as well as Bot and other EU and Dutch officials during the one-day summit.
