BRUSSELS - THE European Union, whose leaders will re-examine relations with Moscow on Monday, has knitted close economic and political ties with Russia since the end of the Soviet Union.

Before the Georgian crisis, the 27-nation bloc had looked forward to stepping up those relations by negotiating a new strategic partnership, although the pact's future has since grown uncertain.

Of all countries with which the EU has tight relations, it has the most frequent offical meetings with Russia. Two EU-Russia summits are held annually compared with only one with the United States and China.

There are also regular meetings with the Russian foreign minister as well as numerous forums on subjects ranging from human rights to investment, justice issues and culture.

Trade and investment have also steadily grown between the two sides as Russia has grown richer thanks in large part to its natural resources.

The EU is Russia's biggest trade partner by far while Russia is the bloc's third biggest trade partner after the United States and China.

After several years of optimism, EU-Russia relations entered a period of turbulence in 2004 with the bloc's enlargement to former Soviet-bloc countries and Vladimir Putin's efforts to revive Russia's standing.

Poland and the Baltic states, long more cautious about dealing with Moscow than 'Old Europe", have pressed in the past for a review of policy towards the Kremlin.

Several energy disputes between Russia and neighbours such as Ukraine and Lithuania have lent weight to their warnings about dealing with Moscow as the rest of the bloc woke up to its dependence on Russia for gas and oil supplies.

The 18 months it took EU members to agree on opening negotiations with Russia on the new strategic partnership bear testimony to the persisting divisions within the EU as to how to deal with Moscow.

The negotiations aim to deepen relations between the two sides both politically and economically and especially on an energy basis with Europe, eager to secure gas and oil supply guarantees.

The talks finally got under way in July but the Georgian conflict could lead EU leaders to suspend or slow down the negotiations until a more thorough examination of relations at the next EU-Russia summit due November 14 in Nice, southern France. -- AFP