Staff Writer KHANTY-MANSIISK — Russia and the European Union on Friday kicked off long-delayed talks on a new partnership pact after the EU appeared to concede to a key demand by President Dmitry Medvedev. The EU seems to be taking a “leap of faith” in Medvedev, who was hosting his first EU-Russia summit, a political analyst said. The visiting EU leaders refused to compare Medvedev with his often blunt-speaking predecessor, Vladimir Putin, but they clearly were impressed with Medvedev and spoke warmly of him. “The first summit with Medvedev was indeed a very good and constructive one,” European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told reporters after three hours of talks Friday. “I really enjoyed this first contact I had with you,” he told Medvedev later at the news conference. EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who...
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