Russia:Deadlock across a wide range of issues is expected today when Russia and EU leaders will struggle to present a cheerful facade to their increasingly tense relationship.
With Poland continuing to veto the start of talks on a new partnership agreement, both sides concede there will be no firm deals to proclaim at the end of the two-day talks in a renovated Soviet-era resort on the river Volga.
Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier made a late dash to Moscow this week to try and improve the mood, but despite more than two hours of talks with Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, including an hour alone, little seems to have emerged. "Preparing for the summit has been difficult," he said later.
"There have been a number of specific problems that we have not been able to solve over the past few weeks," he said, before flying home to Berlin so he could brief chancellor Angela Merkel, who arrives in Russia today.
With talks not even started on a wide-ranging and ambitious partnership agreement, the current, more limited, pact will be up for annual renewal.
Although Russia complains that internal EU conflict has prevented the start of talks, some European diplomats believe the status quo suits Russia better, as it doesn't want to face demands to open up its energy sector.
The Polish veto was triggered by Russia's refusal to lift a ban on meat imports, though the European Commission insists it has provided every possible reassurance that there will be no repeat of earlier incidents, when Indian buffalo meat was passed off as Polish produce to Russia.
The large delegations from both sides will also discuss the stalemate between Russia and western countries over Kosovo's future, though no sign of a compromise has yet emerged.