Riga--German Chancellor Angela Merkel cautioned the EU's eastern partners Thursday not to expect too much of the bloc while warning Russia to mend its ways over Ukraine if it wanted to rejoin the international community.
At the same time, Merkel, who has played a key role in searching for a peaceful solution to the Ukraine conflict, made clear Russia had no reason to fear closer ties between the 28-nation bloc and six of its Soviet-era satellites.
"The Eastern Partnership is not aimed against anyone, especially not against Russia," Merkel told the German parliament before leaving for the two-day summit in the Latvian capital Riga.
"We will not accept thinking in terms of spheres of influence in the Europe of the 21st century," she said, adding that the six states did not face an "either-or" choice between Russia and the EU.
EU leaders will reaffirm their committment to developing ties with Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, according to a draft communique seen by AFP.
They aim to build on the November 2013 Vilnius summit which ended in chaos when Ukraine's then president, the pro-Russian Viktor Yanukovych, baulked at signing an EU association accord alongside Georgia and Moldova.
His refusal sparked massive pro-EU protests which ousted him in February 2014, leading to Russia's annexation of Crimea and a bloody conflict in eastern Ukraine with pro-Russian rebels.
Russia desperately tried to prevent Ukraine signing the Association Agreement but pro-Western President Petro Poroshenko completed the deal last year.
AFP
