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6 November 2008/AFP. The EU's French presidency failed Thursday to convince Lithuania to back the resumption of EU-Russia partnership talks, diplomats said, presaging tough discussions when European foreign ministers meet next week.

During preparatory talks at ambassador-level in Brussels on Thursday, diplomats said, the Lithuanian delegaton repeated "very strongly" its opposition to resuming the talks which were frozen in September amid outrage over Russia's military campaign in Georgia the previous month.

"Lithuania said they won't sign up to anything which referred to reopening the negotiations," one EU diplomat told AFP.

Poland is close to the Lithuanian position, but could be convinced if the EU foreign ministers "adopt firm conclusions" when they meet in Brussels on Monday, another diplomat said.

Britain and Greece were said to support such a firm line which would nonetheless herald the resumption of the talks with Moscow, seen as vital in a wide spectrum of sectors including energy supply and support in international arenas including Iran.

A Polish source complained that "we are perceived as troublemakers when it comes to Russia. On the contrary were are just fighting to respect European values."

Earlier this week President Lech Kaczynski and his Lithuanian counterpart Valdas Adamkus put out a joint statement saying there should be no EU talks with Russia until it fully respects the ceasefire with Georgia.

The two leaders highlighted a failure to respect ceasefire clauses covering the withdrawal of Russian troops to pre-conflict positions and on free access to humanitarian aid.

EU monitors should also be given unfettered access to the breakaway Georgian territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow has recognised as independent states, they said.

Although the European Union brokered the ceasefire that ended the brief conflict between Georgia and Russia in August, the diplomatic aftermath has divided EU member states.

Some western member states, anxious not to antagonise Russia with a tough stance, have suggested that the current Russian pull-back has been sufficient.

Britain and Sweden, which at last month's EU summit said it was not yet time to resume partnership talks with Russia, are now prepared to do so if there is strong language calling on Moscow to honour its commitments, diplomats said.

Lithuania last week sharply criticised suggestions by French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner that the EU-Russia talks could be unfrozen at an upcoming EU-Russia summit in Nice, southern France, on November 14.

The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, insisted Thursday that its mandate to negotiate with Moscow on behalf of the bloc has never been scrapped, while stressing its wish to get approval from member states before resuming them.

EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the talks "are not a gift to Russia".

"This does not mean business as usual because we cannot accept the status quo in Georgia," she told the EU parliament's foreign affairs committee Wednesday.

Russia had moved into Georgia, a former Soviet republic, on August 8 to repel a Georgian military attempt to retake South Ossetia.

Russia is the EU's third largest trading partner, with growth rates of up to 20 percent per year, while the EU is also the biggest investor in Russia.

The EU report also underlined human rights concerns, warning that "there is a growing gap" between Moscow's commitments and the situation on the ground.

At present EU-Russian relations are governed by a 1997 Partnership and Cooperation Agreement reached when a much weaker Russia was emerging from the split-up of the Soviet Union.