Nice, France - The European Union and Russia are set to re-launch on December 2 talks on a strategic treaty which EU leaders froze in protest at Russia's August invasion of Georgia, officials said Friday.

The two sides' top negotiators are due to hold a fresh round of talks on December 2 in Brussels, diplomatic sources told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on the fringes of an EU-Russia summit in the French resort town of Nice.

Brussels/Paris, Nov. 14 : U. S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has accused Russia of engaging in Cold War brinkmanship through its threats to position nuclear weapons on its European border.

Gates claimed that the Kremlin was trying to intimidate President-elect Barack Obama into dropping American plans for a new missile defence system based in Eastern Europe.

Berlin  - Russia's ambassador in Germany, Vladimir Kotenyev, affirmed Friday that the Nord Stream gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea would be built.

Speaking two days after Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Moscow would be just as ready to export its natural gas by ship, the ambassador said on ARD public television that Russia remained committed to the pipe.

"As far as Russia is concerned, this means a stable supply of gas to Europe," he said.

"Mr Putin was not making any threat," he added.

The controversy blew up as the Russians were about to meet with European Union leaders in Nice, France.

London, Nov 14 : French President Nicolas Sarkozy saved the President of Georgia from being hanged “by the balls” — a threat made last summer by Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

According to an account that emerged on Thursday from the Élysée Palace, Putin had revealed his plans for disposing of Saakashvili when Sarkozy was in Moscow in August to broker a ceasefire in Georgia, The Times reported.

Washington - The United States wants to send a top diplomat to Russia before the end of President George W Bush's term to discuss plans for deploying a missile-defence system to Eastern Europe.

Undersecretary of State John Rood, who has lead the diplomatic discussions on the missile defence plans, hopes to travel to Moscow to discuss an updated proposal designed to alleviate Russian concerns, State Department deputy spokesman Robert Wood said.

Dusseldorf - One of the main business backers of the Nord Stream gas pipeline to be built under the Baltic Sea, the giant German chemicals company BASF, affirmed the plan Thursday after seeming doubts in Russia.

"My most recent talks with Alexei Miller, the chief of Gazprom, confirmed that all the parties are working with firm resolve ... to create the Nord Stream pipeline in the time frame," BASF chief executive Juergen Hambrecht said.

His response was released by the German business daily Handelsblatt a day in advance of publication.