MOSCOW (AP) - Russian and European Union leaders gathered Thursday for a summit in Russia’s Far East, with the thorny issue of energy security high on the meeting’s agenda.

But tensions over issues including gas supplies and Russia’s war last year with Georgia could complicate the delicate talks Friday in Khabarovsk - 6,100 kilometers (3,800 miles) and seven time zones east of Moscow.

The two sides are eager to forge a new partnership agreement after years of declining trust and disputes ranging from timber tariffs to Russia’s human rights record.

The EU suspended talks on the partnership pact after Russia’s war in August with pro-Western Georgia, but said in November it was returning to the negotiating table. Little progress has been reported since, and Russia’s Foreign Ministry suggested Thursday it was up to the EU to ensure there were no further interruptions.

"We hope the treaty will be discussed without unnecessary and often absurd political delays and hurdles, and with the consideration of the reasonable interests of the parties," ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said in Moscow.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev told Khabarovsk students Thursday that he had brought the EU leaders out to their Far Eastern city near the Chinese border so the Europeans could better understand Russia.

"They didn’t know what they were in for," he said in televised comments, laughing with the students. "They will feel the grandeur of Russia ... They need to understand how Russia is made, how big it is, what difficulties we have and at the same time what advantages."

Later Thursday, Medvedev dined with EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana and Czech President Vaclav Klaus, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency.

Formal summit talks Friday were likely to focus on securing Russian energy supplies for Europe, as well as tackling the financial crisis and supporting the Middle East peace process.

Russia and the EU are linked closely by commerce, though Europe has grown wary of relying on Russian energy supplies after Moscow in January halted natural gas shipments through Ukraine over a price dispute. The two-week cutoff affected millions in Europe.

Kremlin foreign policy adviser Sergei Prikhodko said Wednesday that Medvedev would urge the EU to help Ukraine pay off a mounting energy debt, which he warned could lead to a new supply disruption.

About a quarter of Europe’s gas imports come from Russia via Ukraine.

The EU blamed both countries for the January supply suspension. But European nations wanting to avoid more disruptions pledged billions of euros in March to upgrade Ukraine’s aging gas transport system.

Medvedev also wants to hear the EU’s explanation for what Russia calls its blind and dangerous support for Georgia’s pro-Western President Mikhail Saakashvili, Prikhodko said.

The EU has opposed Russia’s actions in Georgia.