The 27th Russia-EU summit wrapped up on Friday in the western Russian city of Nizhny Novgorod, with Russian and European Union leaders discussing the recent dispute over Russia's ban on EU vegetables, its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) and a long-awaited visa-free regime.
The summit finished without any major breakthrough and their bilateral relations still overshadowed by lingering mistrust and unresolved problems.
The EU has pressed Russia to lift its ban on fresh vegetable imports from member states, which was put in place after the E. coli outbreak in Germany.
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said at a press conference after the summit that Moscow would lift its ban only after receiving details of the source of the outbreak.
At the same news conference, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said the EU was pleace to have reach an agreement with Russia that the ban on vegetables from Eurpe would be lifted.
Addressing Russia's bid to become a member of the World Trade ORganisation, Medvedev said there was a "very high" chance the country might join the WTO before the end of 2011.
Barroso said Russia and the EU will be in "constant dialogue" over the next few months, including in regard to food sanitary issues and the investment regime for the car industry.
Russia has been seeking WTO membership for more than 18 years. It is the largest economy remaining outside the global trade watchdog.
