EU may review ties with Russia

BRUSSELS: The European Union (EU) is likely to review its ties with Russia because of the "crisis in Georgia", even though Moscow warned the West yesterday against supporting Georgia's leadership.

A five-page text, obtained by the media as EU leaders began emergency talks in Brussels, "condemned" Russia's move to recognize the independence of Georgia's breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and urged other countries to avoid such a step.

It contained no references to sanctions but described relations between the 27-nation bloc and its largest energy supplier as being at a "crossroads" ahead of a long-scheduled Nov 14 meeting between European and Russian leaders in Nice, France.