Polish leaders, who have been firmly tough against Russia over the past few years, said on Monday they expected the European Union (EU) to take "different polices" against Russia if French President Nicolas Sarkozy's Sept.8 visit to Moscow failed to produce positive results.
The warning came after the extraordinary EU summit ended without calling sanctions against Russia over the Georgian crisis.
The summit, instead, called on Russia to immediately withdraw its troops to the positions it held prior to the August conflict in South Ossetia against Georgia, and decided to postpone the EU-Russia negotiations for the new partnership and cooperation agreement pending Moscow's implementation of the French-brokered cease-fire.
Polish President Lech Kaczynski, speaking to reporters after the summit, said the positions of the EU members are "well differentiated" with Poland, the Baltic states, Sweden, the Czech Republic and Britain in favor of tough lines against Moscow.
He said "compromise" had led to the final common position against Russia.
"I would say it is a good agreement. We are on the good path," he said.
"A lot of things will be depending on Sarkozy's trip to Moscow on Sept. 8," he added. France holds the rotating EU presidency.
Poland, which has close relations with the United States, had been advocating sanctions against Russia.
Georgia launched a sudden attack in South Ossetia on Aug. 7 in an attempt to regain control of the breakaway region. Tbilisi's move triggered prompt reaction from Russia, whose troops drove Georgian forces out of the region and took parts of Georgian territory.
Russia last week recognized South Ossetia and another breakaway region of Abkhazia as independent states, a move that angered the West.
Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk told reporters that Poland has called during the summit for diversification of domestic energy supplies in EU member states, and urged efforts to become less dependent on Russian energy supply.
Warsaw's position was reflected in the summit final conclusions.
"Recent events illustrate the need for Europe to intensify its efforts with regard to the security of energy supplies. The European Council invites the (EU) Council, in cooperation with the (European) Commission, to examine initiatives to be taken to this end, in particular as regards diversification of energy sources and supply routes," said the summit conclusions.
Russia is the EU's major energy supplier, providing 26 percent of the bloc's oil and 29 percent of its gas imports every year.
Source:Xinhua
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