British Prime Minister Tony Blair on Tuesday will play host to Russian President Vladimir Putin at summit talks to be attended also by European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso. E.U. diplomats said the meeting would focus on Russian demands that its citizens have easier access to visa documents needed for traveling to the Union as well as a parallel E.U. insistence that Moscow sign up to a so-called readmission agreement for taking back Russian nationals found to be in illegal residence in the E.U. The summit would send "positive signals, if not include a final decision" on both issues, a Commission spokeswoman said. The talks will also focus on implementation of the "four common spaces" - covering a range of areas including the economy, environment and energy as well as security issues, culture and education - agreed at the last E.U.-Russia summit in May, according to a report of DPA. Barroso will be accompanied by E.U.'s external relations chief Benita Ferrero-Waldner and trade commissioner Peter Mandelson. Members of the Russian delegation include foreign minister Sergey Lavrov. Officials in Brussels said human rights issues including the situation in Chechnya would be raised at the meeting. Russia is also expected to be queried on its refusal to back an E.U. initiative to refer Iran to the United Nations Security Council for resuming uranium enrichment activities at a plant in Isfahan.
