(Adds Steinmeier, Polish minister) LUXEMBOURG, April 23 (Reuters) - The European Union said on Monday it still hoped to break a deadlock with Russia on a wide-ranging partnership pact before a summit next month despite a weekend failure to solve a months-long trade dispute. "We have some work to do, but I hope very much that before long the issue will be resolved. In any case before the summit," EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana told reporters ahead of talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Brussels and Moscow failed on Sunday to get agreement to end a 16-month-old Russian ban on the import of Polish meat that has blocked negotiations on the partnership pact, due to cover energy, trade, economic cooperation and human rights. The EU and Russia hold a summit on May 18. German Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier, whose country holds the rotating EU presidency, said the talks with Lavrov would focus on how the negotiations could be started as quickly as possible. But Polish Foreign Minister Anna Fotyga was downbeat on the chances of a quick breakthrough. Asked if she expected any progress with Lavrov on the meat ban, she replied: "There is no progress".
