PARIS -- The European Union has renewed its appeal to Russia to stop fighting in Chechnya, open negotiations with the rebel republic and allow relief supplies to reach the Chechen population, the French Foreign Ministry said Monday.


Foreign Ministry spokesman Richard Duque said the so-called troika of the past, current and next holders of the rotating EU presidency -- Germany, France and Spain -- made fresh representations to the Russian Foreign Ministry on Saturday.


The meeting was partly to ensure that the Kremlin would cooperate with a mediation mission by an envoy of the Hungarian presidency of the Organization for European Security and Cooperation, due to visit Moscow this week.


"The European troika also passed on to the Russian authorities a new pressing appeal from the European Union for a halt to the fighting, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Chechen people and for negotiations to begin," Duque said.


Outgoing European Commission president Jacques Delors said Saturday that Russia's assault on breakaway Chechnya could damage its efforts to forge closer ties to Europe.


There was, however, no justification at present for EU intervention in what amounts to a Russian internal matter, Delors said in an interview aired on Euronews television.


In Bonn, German Economics Minister G--nter Rexrodt said Monday that Germany would maintain a "sense of proportion" when judging Russia's campaign in Chechnya to prevent a breakdown in relations with a crucial partner.


Germany, Russia's staunchest Western ally, biggest trading partner and most generous aid donor, wants the conflict resolved quickly and peacefully, but wishes to avoid steps that could destabilize the situation in Russia, he said.


Rexrodt told German radio he would spell out Bonn's position when he attends a bilateral economic council meeting in St. Peterburg next week.


"I will make clear to the Russians that, in the economic realm, we cannot simply sweep their behavior in Chechnya under the rug and pretend it did not happen," he said.


Chancellor Helmut Kohl reiterated his support for President Boris Yeltsin at the weekend, but voiced concerns over human rights abuses in the military campaign.


"I will do everything I can to help Boris Yeltsin guide Russia toward rule of law, a parliamentary democracy and a free market system," Kohl said Sunday.