TODAY: EU to resume Russia discussions; Britain ready to open relations with Russia once again; Russian passports in Ukraine?; Medvedev responds to US sanctions. The result of an EU delegation meeting with Russian foreign ministers is that the EU will discuss options for resuming partnership talks with Moscow when it meets for a summit in Nice next month. It is ‘inevitable’ that negotiations will resume, says French foreign minister Bernard Kouchner. Kouchner has also been quoted this week as saying, ‘We all know that they are handing out Russian passports’ in Ukraine’s Crimea region. The UK is ready to ‘re-engage’ with Russia, according to Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, who is in Russia resurrecting the Russian-British Steering Committee on Trade and Investment, which hasn’t met since 2002. President Dmitry Medvedev’s reaction to US sanctions for Rosboronexport is either sharply critical or blasé, depending on who you read. Medvedev has still not made his first state-of-the-nation address.