MOSCOW, May 10: Russia and the European Union (EU) trumpeted a landmark accord on Tuesday to boost cooperation, in what President Vladimir Putin called a key step towards a united, ‘greater Europe’, but clear strains remained. The two sides notably failed to reach a final accord in easing visa rules and returning illegal immigrants, while tension between Moscow and the EU’s newcomer states from the ex-Soviet Baltics also bubbled back to the surface.

Mr Putin hailed the agreement on four ‘roadmap’ accords – which will bolster joint action in areas ranging from trade to fighting terror — after hammering out the details in a four-hour summit in Moscow.

“The implementation of the roadmaps would allow us to make important progress towards the construction of a united Europe, with no dividing lines,” he told reporters at a joint press conference in the Kremlin.

The four accords cover a raft of policy areas, including the economy; freedom, security and justice; external security; and research, education and culture. But negotiations remained snagged notably on demands by the 25-nation EU for a firm linkage between an accord to ease visa rules and an agreement on the readmission of illegal immigrants.

EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso confirmed that while an overall accord had been agreed negotiations would continue on the two key issues. Luxembourg Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker, who holds the EU presidency, used a marital metaphor to indicate that, while the EU and Russia have not yet consumated their relationship, they are strongly committed to each other.

“Russia and the European Union are not yet on their honeymoon, but it is true love,” he told reporters.

The Moscow summit was aimed at repairing ties battered in recent years: an attempt to agree on the ‘roadmap’ accords foundered last year when Russia was angered by perceived EU interference in Ukraine. But the talks were clouded notably by strains between Russia and the EU’s three ex-Soviet Baltic newcomer states Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which spend six decades under Soviet rule after World War II.

And the issue resurfaced starkly at the closing press conference, when Mr Putin warned bluntly that he would not stand for “stupid” demands from Latvia or Estonia.

“Russia is ready to sign border agreements with Estonia and Latvia, but only if they are not accompanied by stupid territorial demands,” he said. The Russian leader at one point rounded on an Estonian journalist who asked why Moscow has refused to apologize for the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states.

Mr Putin pointed out that the Soviet parliament in 1989 condemned the annexation of the Baltics. “The question is closed. We have made (an apology) once and that is enough,” he shot back.—AFP