Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk will hold talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris next week on the eve of a European Union-Russia summit, the Polish government said Friday.
Poland's PAP news agency reported that Sarkozy had himself requested to meet with Tusk Thursday ahead of the EU-Russia summit in Nice, France on Nov. 14.
The meeting between the two heads of government is expected to focus on European issues, with the E.U.'s relationship with Russia being one of the priorities.
Brussels suspended talks on a new E.U.-Russia agreement Sept. 1 in protest at Moscow's intervention in Georgia and its recognition of the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia.
Both Poland and Lithuania are against the E.U. resuming partnership discussions with Russia at this stage.
Sarkozy and Tusk are also expected to discuss climate change and the E.U.'s approach to tackling global warming.
The European Commission wants E.U. member states to approve its package to cut emissions by December. The aim is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 20% from 1990 levels by 2020.
But Poland, which relies on coal-fired power plants for almost all its electricity, opposes the measures. Along with six other central and eastern European member states, it argues the cost of implementing the Commission's targets could slow economic growth.
Pressured by veto threats from Poland and Italy, E.U. leaders have agreed the bloc's package will be adopted unanimously by all 27 E.U. member states - or not at all - at their next summit on Dec. 11-12.