EU, Russia to begin treaty talks

BRUSSELS, May 21 (UPI) -- EU officials say they expect a proposal to begin talks on a new treaty with Russia to be approved when EU foreign ministers meet next week.

Talks on a new pact had been vetoed by Lithuania in late April due to a dispute over crude oil deliveries to Lithuania that had been halted by a pipeline mishap in 2006.

A spokeswoman for the EU president said Wednesday that EU ambassadors had agreed, without dissent, to get the talks back on track, Russia's RIA Novosti news agency said.

RIA Novosti also said that Moscow had been told the talks would be approved without dissent and that the treaty would also be on the agenda at the Russia-EU summit scheduled for late June in Siberia.