(BRUSSELS) - European Union nations on Tuesday gave a green light to opening new talks on a key partnership agreement with Russia, after Lithuania lifted its veto, an EU diplomat told AFP.

The diplomat said the decision, which still has to be formally ratified by each of the 27 EU member countries, had been taken at a meeting of their ambassadors in Brussels.

Lithuania, a former member of the old Soviet Union which became an EU member in 2004, last month vetoed EU attempts to kick off talks on a new "Partnership and Cooperation Agreement" with energy-rich and newly assertive Russia.

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