Putin: Set for visa wrangle

EU leaders are set to gather in St Petersburg for a summit aimed at tackling immigration, the environment and human rights.

Leaders including Tony Blair will arrive at the meeting tonight - which comes ahead of a gathering of G8 leaders in France on Sunday.

The prime minister was last night returning from the Gulf, where he met with British troops stationed in the southern city of Basra.

Blair will hold talks in Poland later today before heading to the summit. During his visit he will call on the Polish people to back EU membership in the country's forthcoming referendum.

The gathering is just one of a series in an intense round of global diplomatic negotiations

President Bush will jet into "New Europe" tonight where he will set out his plans for the next phase in diplomatic relations.

After visiting Poland, where he will thank its government for its support in the war, the president will head for a half-day meeting with Putin ahead of the three-day G8 summit in Evian.

The gatherings will be watched closely to assess whether the fall out over Iraq has had a lasting effect on the dynamics of global diplomacy.

But it will be the issue of abolishing travel visas for Russians entering the EU that is set to overshadow the one-day meeting between European leaders.

The last gathering between EU heads and President Putin, held last November, was marred by a row over human rights abuses in Chechnya.

But a draft protocol to be agreed this weekend will commit Russia to securing a lasting peace and allowing humanitarian assistance to enter the war-torn state.

However it will be the issue of EU-wide travel that is likely to divide Moscow and Brussels.

Russia wants freedom for its citizens to travel within the EU by 2007, although the European Commission is hesitant about setting such a date.

It will also call for a special status in relation to the EU: similar to that it now shares with NATO.

The summit will see leaders express reservations about moves to link the scrapping of the EU entry visa with an earlier agreement on the readmission of illegal immigrants.

A commission spokesman said agreement on a date should be withheld until there are "clear prospects for resolving the current problems".

EU leaders are also set to express strong reservations about the slow pace of environmental reform in Russia.

The EU is set to demand that Russia ratifies the Kyoto protocol at the earliest opportunity.

The commission is pressing Moscow to ratify the treaty through the Duma by September - which would coincide the world climate change conference in Russia.

It is also upping the pressure on Moscow to deliver a greater emphasis on nuclear safety.

For its part Russia will seek to block moves to extend its partnership and cooperation agreement to the 10 new EU accession states.

Moscow has expressed reservations about the decision to allow the governments of the 10 accession states, the majority of which are former members of the Soviet Bloc, to attend this weekend's summit.

The Russian government believes its economy stands to lose out as a result of the enlargement process.

It will also seek to ensure its reservations about the process of expanding the EU into Eastern Europe are recorded in the joint statement to be agreed between leaders on Saturday.