Rescue mission

Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was due to jet into Warsaw on Friday for talks with Polish PM Jarosław Kaczyński, looking to resolve a dispute between Poland and Russia in time for a November 24 summit in Helsinki, where the EU and Russia were expected to negotiate a new partnership agreement.

Poland drew ire from both Russian and EU factions last week after it refused to allow the negotiations to go forward. Poland demanded that Russia end its ban on Polish food products.

The Polish government welcomed the idea of the visit. "We see that our appeals are finally producing results," said Andrzej Krawczyk, President Lech Kaczyński's foreign policy adviser.

"We are aware of our national interests but we are also aware of the need for a common EU front. Nobody really wants these talks [with Russia] to collapse," he added.

In order to find a way around the impasse, the European Commission sent experts on a fact-finding mission to Poland to confirm whether Polish food exports meet EU standards, hoping to persuade the Kremlin to lift the ban. However, as WBJ was going to press, Russian officials were insisting on their own independent verification.

But there was some hope for a deal, as on Friday Polish officials seemed to indicate compromise was possible.

"I think we will find a solution which will also be acceptable for us," Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński said, while Andrzej Krawczyk told private radio TOK FM: "We have shown we can be tough ... it is important now to show we can be reasonable." (Reuters)