EU states seek to end divisions on Russia and Serbia

By David Brunnstrom

LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) - European Union foreign ministers will seek on Tuesday to overcome differences holding up greater EU ties with Russia and Serbia.

Most countries in the 27-member bloc are anxious to begin early talks on a wide-ranging trade and political partnership agreement with energy-rich Russia, while good ties with Belgrade are seen as vital to Balkan stability.

But the Russian talks are stalled by the former Soviet republic of Lithuania's demand for assurances on Russian energy, judicial and foreign policy.

The Netherlands and Belgium are holding up a pact with Serbia to insist it do more to hunt war crime indictees from the Balkan conflicts of the 1990s.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was upbeat about the chances of Lithuania dropping its objections and allowing the start of partnership talks soon, and certainly in time for an EU-Russia summit in Siberia in June.

"If what our EU colleagues are hinting at comes about, then we can start these negotiations in the nearest future, and announce it during the summit in Khanty-Mansiysk," Russia's Interfax news agency quoted him as saying of the EU discussions.

Lithuania can block the unanimity required among the 27 member states. It wants an EU negotiating mandate to take account of its concerns over energy supplies from Russia and cooperation from Moscow in investigating crime.

It also wants a Russian commitment to solving so-called frozen conflicts in breakaway areas in other former Soviet republics, notably Georgia and Moldova.