Kremlin - Juncker visit unlikely to mend EU-Russia ties

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A visit by European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker to Russia next month is unlikely to lead to a breakthrough in Moscow's strained relations with Europe, but is a good chance to start trying to narrow differences, the Kremlin said on Monday. The Kremlin gave its assessment of the visit after a Commission spokeswoman said Juncker had agreed to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 16, a move that may stir debate on the EU's fraught relations with Moscow. Juncker's visit, his first as Europe's chief executive, comes at a time when the 28-nation bloc is reported to be preparing to renew economic sanctions it imposed on Russia over the Ukraine crisis when they expire in July. There are tentative signs that some member states are keen to restore trade ties with Moscow, but most are reported to feel that Russia must go further in implementing the so-called Minsk peace accord for east Ukraine if it wants the sanctions lifted. "I would probably not be overly optimistic (about Juncker's visit) or look for signs of a breakthrough in every separate step (by the EU)," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call with reporters on Monday. Overcoming what he said were the negative consequences brought about by the EU's sanctions rhetoric and what he called its refusal to deal with Russia at many levels was not something that could be achieved quickly, Peskov said. "But the most positive element to this trip is that it shows a readiness and a desire for dialogue aimed at getting consensus on those issues where we still have strong disagreements." The Kremlin felt that such dialogue was the only hope of narrowing the two sides' positions, he said, saying that was why it welcomed Juncker's readiness to talk. Russia returned Ukrainian military pilot Nadiya Savchenko to Kiev on Wednesday in a prisoner swap welcomed by Western politicians as a potential catalyst for better ties between Moscow and the EU. The Kremlin played the episode down however, saying it could "hardly be considered as something that is able to significantly change the current atmosphere". (Reporting by Dmitry Solovyov/Polina Devitt; Editing by Andrew Osborn)