Poland vetoed talks between the European Union and Russia on a new partnership agreement today over a meat dispute, casting a shadow over a summit tomorrow with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The Polish move, dramatising latent hostility between Warsaw and its former Soviet master, is a political embarrassment for the EU, which will be unable to speak with a single voice at tomorrow's meeting with Putin in Helsinki.
Warsaw blocked consensus on a negotiating mandate, spurning a compromise offered by the EU's Finnish presidency on a statement demanding an urgent lifting of Moscow's ban on imports of Polish meat and some other food products.
"Unfortunately the EU was not able to agree on the mandate," said Finnish Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen, the summit host.
Putin defended the ban, denied it was politically motivated, and called for negotiations to find a solution.
"(Poland must) not protect the interests of swindlers and crooks involved in smuggling which hits local producers," he told a news conference after talks with Finland's president.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, accompanying Putin in Helsinki, said it was the EU's problem, not Russia's, and there were lots of other things to discuss as the summit.
Asked if Moscow was disappointed, he said: "We are not. We think Brussels should be disappointed to some extent as this was a perfect opportunity to initiate these negotiations. Most likely we will lose this opportunity."
Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga, on a visit to Oslo, said Poland was willing to risk its reputation in the EU over what she called "a matter of sovereignty."
"What kind of damage can be (deemed acceptable) when you fight for your sovereignty? You wage everything for this. Everything, even reputation," she said in English.