Putin lambasts Baltics, sours Russia-EU summit

President Vladimir Putin angrily accused Baltic states yesterday of "political demagoguery" in churning up historic resentments towards Moscow, souring a summit designed to cement relations between the EU and Russia.

Mr Putin was speaking minutes after Russia signed a long-awaited agreement with the European Union to strengthen ties that have frayed since 2004 when accession of new states including three ex-Soviet Baltic republics brought the bloc to Russian borders.

"We are ready to sign an agreement on borders... with Estonia and Latvia. We hope they will not be accompanied by idiotic - in terms of their content - demands of a territorial nature," said Mr Putin.

Russia has yet to sign a border agreement with Baltic neighbours Latvia and Estonia, a move that has been repeatedly delayed by poor ties between Moscow and the Baltics.

Mr Putin called a Latvian territorial claim dating back to 1945 "total nonsense".

Russia has also been stung by demands from Baltic states that it apologise for what they call occupation by the Soviet Union for almost 50 years after World War II.

"It does not fit with the spirit of creating a common European home," said Mr Putin in an angry outburst that appeared to take aback EU officials present at a Kremlin news conference held after the signing of the EU-Russian agreement.

"Let's start dividing up everything in Europe? No, no. I don't think so. We appeal to Baltic politicians to stop practising political demagoguery and start constructive work. Russia is ready for such work," said Mr Putin.

His remarks were a reminder that resentments among Baltic countries - Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania - have the potential to unsettle relations between Moscow and the EU.

Earlier, Mr Putin had hailed the agreement with the EU as a big step towards creating a Europe free of barriers.

Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker of Luxembourg, which holds the EU presidency, told the news conference: "We leave with conviction firm that... President Putin is a friend of Europe. It is not necessary to agree on everything but to know that we work on a basis of common conviction."

EU officials said the agreement provided the basis for regular cooperation on key practical issues of trade and political relations.

The pact encompasses four key areas, known in EU parlance as "spaces" - the economy; freedom, security and justice; external security; and research, education and science.

The EU is Moscow's largest trading partner with over half of Russia's exports going to the bloc. Russia supplies the EU with around one-fifth of its oil and gas needs.

Moscow clearly hopes the deal, of strong symbolic importance, will help strengthen foreign investor confidence.

The EU also threw its support behind Russia's bid to join the World trade Organisation (WTO). Russia is the largest trading nation which is still outside the WTO.