EU concern over Russia's giant oil company YUKOS has overshadowed the run-up to a Russian-European Union summit.
Some EU officials have voiced concerns over Russia's attitude to big business due to the arrest of YUKOS head Mr Mikhail Khodorkovsky two weeks ago and the freezing by prosecutors of a large stake in the company.
But Russian President Vladimir Putin is unlikely to face a rough ride at the summit. "We're not going to get involved in details on YUKOS, it's still an internal matter. But we will make it clear that we do have a reaction to what's going on," an EU official said.
Nonetheless, he added that the way the case was being handled "is way off what we would consider acceptable in the European Union".
Italy holds the rotating EU presidency and Italian premier Silvio Berlusconi will host the summit, with top EU officials flying in for the half-day encounter, including Commission President Romano Prodi and Foreign Policy chief Javier Solana.
After a meeting with Mr Berlusconi yesterday, Mr Putin told reporters he had no intention of destroying YUKOS. He criticised a threat by his government to prevent the company gaining access to some of its essential Siberian oilfields.
YUKOS chief Mr Khodorkovsky was seized by the security forces over a week ago, charged with fraud and tax evasion and held in prison.
Critics suspect hardline elements within the Kremlin instigated the action against YUKOS and Mr Khodorkovsky, who quit as YUKOS chief this week, to curb his political ambitions.
