Steinmeier in Russia

A foreign ministry spokesman said Steinmeier would "take the baton" from Russia, which held the rotating presidency of the Group of Eight most industrialized nations in 2006, and discuss Berlin's plans for the European Union in the first half of the year.

Steinmeier, who will arrive in Moscow late Wednesday for talks with Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, will discuss the dispute with Iran over its nuclear ambitions and EU-Russia ties with his counterpart Sergei Lavrov and Putin on Thursday, the spokesman said.

Germany has worked closely with the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States -- to cobble together a resolution imposing economic sanctions on Iran over its refusal to suspend its uranium enrichment program.

Russia unhappy with proposed Iran sanctions

Lavrov, however, said on Wednesday that a draft put together by Germany, France and Britain was too strict because it curbed legitimate business deals with Teheran instead of restricting only goods related to Iran's nuclear plan.

"Our partners ... are trying to turn the situation around in their favor by inserting into the resolution statements which would de facto lift all limits on the restraints that are being introduced in Iran and will sever ... economic ties with Iran in completely legitimate areas," he said.

The five permanent Security Council members and Germany had agreed that any action against Iran should rule out the use of force, help find a negotiated solution to the issue and support the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Lavrov said.

"Unfortunately we now have to overcome formulas in the initial draft, which depart from these basic principles," he said, adding that he still thought agreement could be reached. "If we honestly work on the basis of the agreements, we can reach a deal very soon."

The difference of opinion voiced in Moscow, however, raises questions as to whether the United Nations Security Council will be called upon to place sanctions on Teheran. The Iranian government has denied working on a nuclear weapon program as accused by the West and insists it is interested only in producing nuclear energy.

No agreement found on Polish meat ban

While the EU and Russia were able to reach a deal on meat from most of the EU's 25 member states on Wednesday, Steinmeier is still likely to discuss a standing Russian import stop on Polish meat products.

Despite a statement from Russian Agriculture Minister Alexei Gordeyev that an agreement allowing delivery of EU meat products to Russia as of Jan. 1 had been reached, Polish officials maintained that they would not lift a veto on EU-Russia talks.

"Nothing has changed, there was no agreement," Polish EU spokesman Zbigniew Gnatkowski said Wednesday.

In November, Russia threatened to ban imports from the EU of all products of animal origin as of 2007 owing to concerns over sanitary standards in incoming EU member states Bulgaria and Romania.

Poland has contended the ban was not for health reason but politically motivated and has been blocking the start of talks between the bloc and Russia on a new political, economic and energy deal, which is meant to replace a decade-old accord that expires next year.

Meetings with opposition leaders planned

In his second day of talks on Thursday, Steinmeier, who was chief of staff for former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder, a close Putin ally, before he became foreign minister, will meet with representatives of Russian civil society, including opposition politicians and human rights activists.

They were expected to discuss a law that went into effect in April that established stricter state controls over the work and finances of non-governmental organizations.