Summit highlights divisions between EU and Russia

Two days of talks between Russia's President Vladimir Putin and an EU delegation led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel are unlikely to yield a single agreement.

"I am not expecting, honestly, anything spectacular from this meeting," said European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso.

The summit in Samara, Russia, which began with a dinner yesterday, appeared doomed by their inability to resolve vexatious energy, trade and security issues - and a hardening of attitudes, perhaps, on both sides.

Merkel said after her arrival in the south-eastern Russian city that she did not expect concrete results from the summit but did expect insight into the disagreements.

"It is always better to talk to each other than to talk about each other," she said.

The Kremlin accuses the West of trying to isolate Russia and meddle in its internal affairs. EU leaders, meanwhile, are concerned about Russia's harsh rhetoric and the government's crackdown on political critics in the run-up to as parliamentary elections in December and a presidential vote next March.

Tensions between Russia and Europe spiked last month when authorities in EU member Estonia removed a statue commemorating Red Army soldiers from central Tallinn. The statue's removal sparked days of clashes between Estonian police and ethnic Russian protesters.

One person was killed and hundreds arrested. Meanwhile, a pro-Kremlin, nationalist youth group blockaded the Estonian Embassy in Moscow and chased the Estonian ambassador.

Since the statue was removed, Estonian government websites have come under cyber-attack that officials suggest are coming from Russia and perhaps co-ordinated by Moscow.

Russia's record on democracy and human rights under Putin also looms over the summit.

Although Germany has urged the Kremlin to allow a rally today and authorities have given approval for a demonstration, activists say they have been harassed even before the summit has begun.

Chess great Garry Kasparov, a vocal Kremlin foe, said police detained an activist at the Samara airport yesterday, proving that authorities are keeping tabs on them.

"They are followed and they are arrested on their arrival," Kasparov told The Associated Press.

About 15 others also have been detained at least briefly, said Anastasiya Kurt-Adzhiyeva, a co-ordinator for an opposition umbrella group that includes Kasparov's organisation.

Russia and the EU also remain divided on security issues.

Putin has criticised US plans for missile defence sites in Poland and the Czech Republic, saying Moscow does not believe claims that the bases are intended to counter a missile threat from Iran.