Russia and EU have been working for years to lift visa requirements for Russian citizens to travel to EU countries and the initiative is seen by many Russians as a test for the EU's political sentiments toward Russia in some sense.

The topic figures high on the agendas of each of the recent Russia-EU summits, but due to unresolved problems, both sides expect no breakthrough this time around.

On the eve of the summit, Russian presidential aide Sergei Prikhodko told local media that Russian citizens would still need visas to travel to Europe, blaming the EU side for the slow progress on the issue.

They (EU officials) are not yet ready for a "political decision" on canceling visa requirement for Russian citizens, Prikhodko said. He added the EU has set no deadline for completing negotiations.

Besides the visa issue, the Kremlin also ruled out the possibility of signing a new comprehensive Russia-EU agreement at the summit.

The Russian side hopes the summit can secure EU support for its bid to join the World Trade Organization by the end of this year, but a recent dispute over Moscow's ban on EU vegetable imports after a scary E. coli outbreak in Europe has cast doubt over bilateral trade relations.

The Russian government said the ban, announced last week, aims to prevent the spread of the outbreak, but subsequent squabbles over the issue between the two sides has somehow soured the atmosphere before the summit, as some EU officials have expressed concern that the ban contradicts WTO rules.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has said Russia will lift the ban only if the EU provides details of the source of the E.coli outbreak.

Meanwhile, EU President Jose Manuel Barroso promised on the eve of the summit that the two sides would be able to resolve all remaining issues concerning Russia's accession to the WTO at the summit.