EU divided over Russia summit plan

• EU imposes sanctions on key Belarus sectors  

• New sanctions on Russia also on the table

France and Germany yesterday called for a European Union summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin but met firm resistance from Poland and Baltic countries who distrust the Kremlin.

French President Emmanuel Macron said the first EU summit with Putin since January 2014 would be a chance for dialogue and won support from Austria's chancellor as EU leaders arrived for their regular summer meeting in Brussels to discuss a new strategy to improve ties with Moscow.

"We need a dialogue to defend our interests... it is a dialogue necessary for the stability of the European continent," Macron said.

"We cannot remain in a purely reactive logic when it comes to Russia," he said. "I hope that we can, with real European unity and coordination, have this ...dialogue."

"We as the European Union must also seek direct contact with Russia and the Russian president. It is not enough for the US president to talk to the Russian president," Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel said ahead of the summit.

EU leaders are also set to ask the European Commission and the EU's top diplomat Josep Borrell for "options for additional restrictive measures, including economic sanctions" against Russia, according to a draft of the summit statement seen by Reuters.

After Nato warnings that Russia is trying to divide Western democracies through disinformation and covert attacks, many EU countries said talk of summits was premature. Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda said the idea was like "trying to engage the bear to keep a pot of honey safe".

The Kremlin welcomed the idea of a summit, saying both Brussels and Moscow needed dialogue.

On opposing sides in standoffs in Ukraine and Belarus, and at odds over human rights, the EU and Russia accuse each other of meddling in elections, disinformation and threatening security and stability from the Baltics to the Black Sea.

The EU yesterday imposed economic sanctions on Belarus, an ally of Russia that the Kremlin sees as a buffer state between Russia and Nato.

The new package looks to hit key sources of revenue for the authorities in Minsk by restricting trade in potash fertiliser, petroleum and tobacco products, a statement said. It limits access for Belarus to the EU's capital markets and bans providing insurance to government and public bodies.

There is also a prohibition on the sale of technology to Belarus that could be used to intercept phone or internet communications and "dual-use" military equipment that could be used to crack down on demonstrators.