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The meeting will be attended by the leaders of all EU countries, as well as the leaders of the EU's eastern neighbours Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, with the exception of Belarus's President Alexander Lukashenko.

Four and a half years since its inauguration, the Eastern Partnership is in a crisis as the EU and Russia battle for influence over the post-Soviet countries. The EU seems to have lost the battle for Kiev for now as Ukraine rejected the planned strengthening of ties with the 28-nation bloc.

Ukraine decided against signing an association and free-trade agreement with the EU, which was to be the highlight of the summit, after Armenia already announced in September that it was more interested in joining the Russian customs union.

Azerbaijan is also reserved, while the EU's relations with Belarus are dominated by sanctions against Lukashenko's regime, so the only result of the summit is likely to be the initialling of association agreements with Moldova and Georgia.

Bratušek will travel to Lithuania from Germany, where she will attend an investment conference in Düsseldorf along with Finance Minister Uroš Čufer.