European Union governments Wednesday gave the green light for talks to open on a new partnership accord with Russia, the E.U.'s Slovenian presidency announced.
The presidency said it had secured agreement "on a negotiating mandate for a new comprehensive E.U.-Russia agreement," which will be formally approved by European Union foreign ministers when they meet in Brussels Monday.
The talks have been blocked for over 18 months - first by Poland, then by Lithuania, which had refused to let them start due to differences in areas such as energy and Russia's stance on "frozen conflicts" in states such as Georgia.