(Recasts with quotes, details)
By David Brunnstrom
BRUSSELS, May 26 (Reuters) - The European Union approved a negotiating mandate for a new partnership agreement with Russia on Monday after months of internal wrangling and the EU Presidency hoped a deal could be in place in two years.
Others predicted that the broad deal Brussels wants on political and economic ties, including energy and trade, could take much longer to agree and EU External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner warned talks would be long and complex.
EU foreign ministers endorsed the mandate after 18 months of objections from the bloc's ex-communist members, most recently by Lithuania which had raised concerns over Russia's role in "frozen conflicts" in some of the ex-Soviet republics.
The EU hopes now to launch talks with Russia on the new partnership at a June 26-27 summit in Siberia.
Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, who pushed hard to get an agreement allaying Lithuania's concerns, was optimistic.
"Negotiations will start I hope now in June. How long will they take? I think around a year. How long will it take to ratify? I don't know, I hope another year, or I presume another year," he said.
"We are not in front of some quick fix," he cautioned to reporters, "but indeed the process has started and we should be able within the process of negotiations to clarify all the problems that exist between EU and the Russian Federation."
"It (the future deal) should finally provide some legally binding commitments in all main areas," Ferrero-Waldner told reporters.
She said it should cover the economy, trade, internal and external security issues, research, education and culture and industry deals in areas such as energy, in which Russia is a crucial supplier for many EU states.
"LEVEL PLAYING FIELD"
The European Union sought a "level playing field" on energy in terms of reciprocal market access and would seek a free trade agreement once Moscow joined the World Trade Organisation.
"Negotiations will certainly not be easy; they will be complex negotiations. I don't want to speculate at this moment, but I think they will take quite some time."
The struggle over the mandate highlighted the split between west European capitals that want solid economic ties with Russia and mostly ex-communist eastern states that want the EU to deal more firmly with Moscow.
Analysts say there are differences of approach between Brussels and Moscow on the type of a future agreement.
Brussels seeks an all-encompassing pact, but Moscow prefers a short framework document coupled to detailed sectorial pacts. Moscow is likely to resist EU insistence on including issues such as human rights.
Monday's progress came as Poland and Sweden proposed that the European Union build an Eastern Partnership to groom former former Soviet republics for eventual membership by getting them to cooperate more closely with the bloc and with each other.
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski, whose country had also raised objections to the Russia mandate, said negotiations would be problematic.
"We think the biggest issue is energy. We have a situation where Russian companies want to participate in our networks but we have a situation where western investors are not always welcome in Russia. We need to even out that situation.
(Additional reporting by Paul Taylor and Mark John; Editing by Mark John and Richard Balmforth) ((david.brunnstrom@reuters.com ; +32 2 287 6839; Reuters Messaging: david.brunnstrom.reuters.com@reuters.net ))
Keywords: EU RUSSIA/
(Adds PKK details, changes dateline to TUNCELI from ANKARA) details, background)
TUNCELI, Turkey, May 26 (Reuters) - The flow of Iranian natural gas to Turkey was halted early on Monday after an explosion hit a gas pipeline in eastern Turkey, Turkish energy officials said.
A senior military source in southeast Turkey, who declined to be named, told Reuters the blast was the work of the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Work to repair the pipeline, hit just after midnight, was underway and it should be operational in a few days time, said a source at state gas company Botas.
"The first results of the investigation show damage to a 30 metre (98 ft) piece of the pipeline which will need to be replaced," the Botas source told Reuters.
An energy ministry official, who declined to be named, said the blast, which he believed may have been sabotage, occurred around 13 kilometres (8 miles) inside Turkish territory.
Sabotage is common on pipelines leading into Turkey from Iran and Iraq, where Kurdish separatist militants are based.
The military source said Kurdish guerillas had detonated explosives on the Iranian-Turkish pipeline near Dogubeyazit, close to the Iranian border.
Iran is Turkey's second biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia.
Iran accounts for more than 20 percent of Turkish natural gas imports, though supplies from Tehran are often cut in the winter months as Iran has had difficulty covering its own supply needs.
Gas was cut last winter for nearly three weeks after Turkemenistan turned off the tap to the Islamic Republic, causing a domino effect as Turkey had to stop its gas exports to Greece.
The PKK, considered a terrorist organisation by the United States, Turkey and the European Union, launched an armed campaign for an ethnic homeland in southeast Turkey in 1984. (Reporting by Orhan Coskun in Ankara, Editing by Peter Blackburn) ((thomas.grove@reuters.com; Telephone: +90 212 350 7051; Reuters Messaging: thomas.grove.reuters.com@reuters.net))
(Recasts, adds minister comments, details)
KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 (Reuters) - Malaysia has no plans to raise pump prices of petrol and diesel despite mounting fuel subsidies following record crude oil prices, a minister said on Saturday.
Malaysia, which has some of Asia's lowest petrol and diesel prices, will instead try to better manage its subsidy scheme to prevent abuse, Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad said.
Malaysia's pump price for petrol is 1.92 ringgit ($0.60) a litre.
"At the moment, there are no plans to raise petrol and diesel prices," he was quoted by news agency Bernama as saying.
With inflation running at 15-month high, the government is unlikely to allow higher fuel prices with plummeting support for the ruling coalition after the recent elections, analysts said.
Neighbouring Indonesia cut fuel subsidies on Saturday despite concerns about possible social unrest.
Indonesia, which even after Saturday's increase still has among the lowest fuel prices in Asia, is not alone in being forced into a corner by record crude oil prices.
Taiwan said it was abolishing price controls on petrol and diesel, while India is also poised to take action.
Malaysia, a major oil producer, has said its subsidy bill could hit record 50 billion ringgit ($15.56 billion) this year as crude oil prices hit record highs.
Malaysia fixes pump prices well below market rates and pays subsidies to fuel retailers to compensate them.
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak said he would chair a cabinet committee on inflation on May 27 to review the subsidies.
"We have no choice but to review the subsidy because we have reached a stage where the annual subsidy for oil, gas and other essential items has exceeded the (annual) allocation for development," Najib said.
He said the new subsidy scheme would be rolled out in stages and that the poor would benefit more from the subsidies.
He gave no details.
Shahrir, the trade minister, has said the government plans to charge foreigners market prices for petrol while its citizens get subsidised rates at the pump in a bid to manage the subsidy bill.
He said citizens would have to show their identity cards when filling up at petrol stations to get subsidised prices.
Oil rose on Friday on the weak U.S. dollar and ongoing long-term supply concerns that briefly pushed oil to a peak over $135 this week.
U.S. light crude <CLc1> settled up $1.38 at $132.19 a barrel, after hitting a record $135.09 during intraday trade on Thursday. High oil prices have hurt demand growth in top consumer the United States, and could curb usage in Asia as well. (Reporting by Jalil Hamid; editing by Lincoln Feast and James Jukwey)
((jalil.hamid@thomsonreuters.com; Reuters Messaging: jalil.hamid.reuters.com@reuters.net; areuters@gmail.com; 603-2333 8047))
Keywords: MALAYSIA FUEL/
KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 (Reuters) - Malaysia has no plans to raise pump prices of petrol and diesel despite soaring crude oil prices, Domestic Trade Minister Shahrir Samad was quoted by news agency Bernama news agency as saying on Saturday.
"At the moment, there are no plans to raise the pump prices of petrol and diesel," he said, adding that the government's focus now was to better manage its fuel subsidy scheme to prevent abuse and deter smuggling. ((Reporting by Jalil Hamid, Editing by Lincoln Feast; Reuters Messaging: jalil.hamid.reuters.com@reuters.net; areuters@gmail.com; 603-2333 8047))
Keywords: MALAYSIA FUEL/PRICES
KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 (Reuters) - Malaysia's top committee on inflation will review the country's mounting fuel subsidies at a meeting on May 27, state Bernama news agency said on Saturday, quoting Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak.
"We have no choice but to review the subsidy because we have reached a stage where the annual subsidy for oil, gas and other essential items has exceeded the allocation for development," Najib said in the eastern state of Pahang.
Neighbouring Indonesia cut fuel subsidies on Saturday despite concerns about possible social unrest. [ID:nJAK267518] (Reporting by Jalil Hamid, Editing by Lincoln Feast) ((Reuters Messaging: jalil.hamid.reuters.com@reuters.net; areuters@gmail.com; 603-2333 8047))
Keywords: MALAYSIA FUEL/
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