Russia and European Union Clash over Human Rights

Russian and European Union leaders disagreed about human rights politics at a heated meeting Friday near Russia's resort city of Samara.

The summit produced no agreements on trade, energy security and other issues dividing the EU and Russia. German Chancellor Angela Merkel criticized Russia for sending the police to prevent activists from travelling to Samara to stage protests.

Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed that the actions were necessary to prevent violence and questioned human rights customs of western nations. Putin also accused Baltic countries, Latvia and Estonia, of persecuting Russian minorities.

The subject of Serbia's breakaway Kosovo province also remained on impasse. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reported to British Media representatives that those who think the province's future can be decided by the EU, Russia and the United States, are burdened by colonial instincts.

German Chancellor Merkel and European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, manifested the bloc's solidarity and expressed that Estonia's and Latvia's disputes with Moscow are Europe's problems and also reinforced their support for Poland, requesting that Moscow end its embargo on Polish meat imports.