Brussels - The European Union should re-open talks within days on a strategic deal with Russia which it froze following Russia's invasion of Georgia, the bloc's executive said Wednesday.

"It is the view of the (European) Commission that the next negotiating sessions should be scheduled now," a report on the EU's relationship with Russia from the Brussels-based body said.

Diplomats in Brussels told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa that the bloc's foreign ministers are now expected to call for a re-launch of talks at a meeting on Monday, despite calls from member states such as the Baltic States and Poland for the talks to remain frozen as long as Russian troops remain in Georgia.

"These negotiations should continue, first because this would allow the EU to pursue its own interests with Russia, and secondly because this is the best way to engage with Russia on the basis of a unified position," the report said.

Following August's war between Russia and Georgia, EU leaders tasked the commission with preparing a "careful in-depth examination of the situation and of the various aspects of EU-Russia relations."

The resulting text of just over four pages, approved by the commission Wednesday, stresses that "economically, Russia needs the EU," and that the bloc's reliance on Russian energy is a relationship of "interdependence not dependence," even if transit disputes and a lack of investment "raise concern about future supply."

"The EU can approach its relationship with Russia with a certain confidence," the paper says, citing the 27-member bloc's status as Russia's largest investor and trading partner.

EU-Russia relations have been ruled since 1997 by a Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA) agreed with the government of the late Boris Yeltsin. Both sides agree that the deal needs updating.

However, talks on the so-called "New EU-Russia Agreement" have repeatedly stalled over rows between Russia and EU member states such as Lithuania and Poland.

The latest blow came after Russian forces occupied parts of Georgia in August and Moscow recognized the independence of the Georgian breakaway territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia - a diplomatic move which the EU firmly opposed.

"The violation of Georgia's territorial integrity with the use of force, and Russia's unilateral recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, remain unacceptable," the commission paper said.

Nonetheless, in other areas of foreign policy, "cooperation in the Middle East Peace Process and on non-proliferation in Iran has been positive," it noted.

Russia is also set to supply EU peacekeepers in Chad with transport helicopters under a deal signed on Wednesday.

EU leaders in an emergency summit on September 1 decided to freeze talks on the new EU-Russia agreement "until troops have withdrawn to the positions held prior to
(the outbreak of fighting on) August 7."

Russian troops have since pulled out of most, but not all of the occupied zones, leaving the bloc split over the question of whether or not to re-open talks.

EU foreign ministers are set to debate the issue on Monday ahead of an EU-Russia summit on November 14. Diplomatic sources told dpa that the ministers are likely to approve a re-launch of talks, but to insist that this does not imply that the bloc thinks that Russia has lived up to its commitments. (dpa)