Brexit, Russia loom over 'minefield' EU summit

BRUSSELS — European Union leaders grappled with Russia and Brexit at a "minefield" summit in Brussels on Thursday at the end of one of the most turbulent years in the bloc's history.

The 28 leaders are dealing with the migration crisis, sanctions against Moscow over the wars in Ukraine and Syria, and a troublesome pact with Kiev that the Netherlands threatens to veto.

British Prime Minister Theresa May will later be left out in the cold while the other 27 have dinner without her in a bid to present a united front over how they handle Britain's departure.

May however dismissed any suggestion that it amounted to a snub and called for as "smooth and orderly a process as possible".

"It is right that the other leaders prepare for those negotiations as we have been preparing," said May, who has promised to trigger the two-year divorce process by the end of March.

Lithuania's "iron lady" President Dalia Grybauskaite meanwhile played down a report that Britain's ambassador to the EU had warned the government that a full post-Brexit trade deal could take 10 years.

"10 years? I hope it will be a lot less," she told reporters.

'Treading on a minefield' 

The one-day summit, cut back from the usual two days, wraps up an “annus horribilis” for the bloc that has seen it face a wave of eurosceptic populism including the shock Brexit referendum vote in June.

"We are treading on a minefield, there are so many issues on the agenda that still can go wrong," warned a senior EU official.

The fate of civilians in Aleppo as Syrian and Russian forces drive out rebels is also on the agenda, although EU leaders will stop short of threatening any new sanctions against Moscow.

EU President Donald Tusk is set to meet Aleppo mayor Brita Hagi Hasan who is in Brussels to push the bloc to support the opening of a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians.

The leaders will issue a statement that the EU "strongly condemns" the assault by the "Syrian regime and its allies, notably Russia", but will only say that "the EU is considering all available options," according to a draft seen by AFP.

EU Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini said the leaders were not set to consider sanctions, insisting instead that the bloc would try to use its "influence" with Iran and Russia.

Mogherini is also expected to push plans for increased European defence cooperation in the wake of Brexit and amid fears about US President-elect Donald Trump's commitment to NATO allies.

Russia sanctions 

Agreement will be easier on the EU's stiff economic sanctions against Russia over the war in Ukraine, which were imposed in 2014 after the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will debrief leaders, after which "I expect that there will be a consensus" on a six-month rollover, a German government official said.

The rollover is expected despite little appetite among some countries and worries that Trump is showing signs of a rapprochement with Vladimir Putin.

The thorniest issue on Thursday could be Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte's efforts to negotiate a way past a referendum in April in which his country voted against a key EU-Ukraine pact.

The Netherlands is the only one of the 28 EU states that has not ratified the deal so far, and Rutte wants vows that the pact is not a first step towards EU membership for Ukraine, and that it will not provide defence guarantees to Kiev.

"Failure of the ratification would be a huge defeat for the EU, Ukraine, a victory for Russia," the senior EU official said.

In the evening, Brexit but not May will return to the table, with the EU 27 expected to highlight their unity in a statement saying they agree to launch talks as quickly as possible after she does so.

But nothing is simple with the EU and the issue has already sparked a turf war in Brussels.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, is set to lead the talks but European Parliament chief Martin Schulz warned bluntly of "grave consequences" for any deal, which could even be rejected if MEPs are not included in the process.