TODAY: Obama not yet committed to missile defense plan, giving Kremlin hope of more flexible relationship; Medvedev and Obama speak; Kremlin to all but ignore Bush administration; Russia to soften trade measures to smooth path to WTO; Russia and Venezuela form development bank; OSCE monitors blame Georgia; Communist marches, anti-corruption, presidential pardons. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has voiced his optimism on foreign policy relations under Barack Obama, amidst news that Dmitry Medvedev and the new president-elect held an amicable telephone conversation over the weekend. The Russian government reportedly believes that the new US administration could be persuaded to abandon plans to station a missile defense shield in Poland, and reports indicate that Obama has not given Poland a definitive answer on the shield. Despite a meeting between Lavrov and Condoleezza Rice over the weekend, the ...

TODAY: The return of President Putin? Medvedev’s state-of-the-nation address seen as a welcoming threat to Barack Obama; Poland certain US will go ahead with missile defense, Russia set to retaliate; EU to push for partnership talks to resume next week; Human Rights Watch condemns Georgia. Is Prime Minister Vladimir Putin planning to return to the presidency in 2009? It might explain Dmitry Medvedev’s proposal to extend the presidential term. Opposition party the United Civil Front sees the intention as ‘criminal’. Putin is scheduled to speak at the opening of the World Economic Forum in Davos next January. Are Dmitry Medvedev’s (‘largely rhetorical’) hopes that the US will resume ‘fully-fledged relations with Russia’ too high? Medvedev may not have mentioned Barack Obama in his state-of-the-nation address directly yesterday, but ...

TODAY: Deripaska denied US visa due to ‘criminal associations’; Lavrov blames Georgia; Russian interests in Latin America provide an arms-export showcase; ‘half’ of Russians satisfied with government; Ingushetian president dismissed. US immigration reportedly denied a visa to oligarch Oleg Deripaska due to suspicions that he was involved in ‘criminal associations and relationships’. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says that Russia is not to blame for the death of a Dutch TV cameraman during the Georgian war. ‘He is one of the victims of the war that the Georgian leadership started,’ Lavrov said. It is widely thought that Russia’s renewed interest in Latin America and, in particular, its military links with Venezuela, ‘are a showcase for arms exports, not an attempt to nurture Latin American allies for a new Cold War with Washington’. Of course Russia ...

The attentive reader may recall that Sergei Lavrov got a little bit prickly in response to U.S. sanctions on the state arms exporter Rosoboronexport. During yesterday's press debriefing at the State Department, one journalist got a brief response out of Sean McCormack, which shows that the U.S. is getting bit annoyed with Russia's insistence that its helping out on Iran is seen as "a favor" rather than a mutual interest. He's got a point. QUESTION: Sean, kind of old business from Friday. Sergey Lavrov expressed some irritation about the sanctions that the United States imposed against that Russian export firm Rosoboronexport or whatever. MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah. QUESTION: And he said that it was a case of unilateralism vis-à-vis Iran and that this will cause Russia to sort of approach the P5+1 process with diminished zeal. And I was wondering, have they communicated that to you? MR. MCCORMACK: I don’t ...

TODAY: Lavrov unhappy with US sanctions on arms; EU to restructure Russian relations; Kremlin keeping tags on bloggers?; Lukhkov accused of influencing foreign policy under Vladimir Putin; UK’s Peter Mandelson under scrutiny for ties with Oleg Deripaska. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has condemned sanctions imposed on Rosoboronexport by the US State Department for selling arms to Iran as having ‘no international legal foundation whatsoever’. A new EU policy document suggests that Europe should restructure its discussions with Russia to solve ‘numerous difficulties’ affecting relations. Nguyen Minh Triet, the president of Vietnam, has arrived in Russia for talks on cooperation, closely following a visit by the Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko aimed at strengthening financial ties. Over 50% of Lithuanians see Russia as a threat to the security of Balkan countries, says a public opinion ...

It's a scary situation when after oil and gas, a country's top export is arms. Somehow I just don't see that really helping the world. Although India and China are traditionally the largest buyers, Russia has been ambitiously expanding its weapons customer portfolio and enjoying an estimated 23% growth in sales from last year. It's not even so much that scary dictators like Qaddafi and Chavez count themselves among the most enthusiastic and loyal customers, but rather what has Washington (and Israel) worried is the big bump up in arms sales to Iran, Syria, and North Korea. Today the United States decided to impose sanctions against Rosoboronexport (along with a dozen of other firms from China, Sudan, Venezuela) which prompted quick and angry responses from Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and other officials, which outlined much of the exact same arguments that critics have against Gazprom. ...

Apparently I missed quite the stinging attack against Henry Kissinger made by Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during his visit to CFR about a month ago. This is interesting to me because for the past six months or so Kissinger has been seen as the leading proponent in the U.S. foreign policy community for rapprochement with Russia, pushing a softer policy line. In a by-lined WaPo article along with George Shulz, Kissinger argued that "We believe that the fundamental interests of the United States, Europe and Russia are more aligned today -- or can be made so -- even in the wake of the Georgian crisis, than at any point in recent history. We must not waste that opportunity." Just a couple weeks earlier, Lavrov had this to say about Kissinger's understanding of events in the Caucasus:

A further group of Russian energy companies is planning to ask the government for ‘tens of billions of dollars of cheap loans’ to stave off the effects of the financial crisis. ‘Turkmen gas riches may exceed the West’s wildest dreams’ - if so, what lies ahead for EU energy relations? Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reiterated his view that sanctioning Iran for its nuclear work is ‘counterproductive’.

TODAY: Anti-corruption legislation marks renewed Medvedev campaign; stand-off in Brussels over Russia's call to limit EU observers in South Ossetia; ties with Bolivia to be strengthened; the ongoing pro-Stalin trend. A new package of anti-corruption legislation is to be introduced in the State Duma this week, says President Dmitry Medvedev. Under a new constitutional law, all state officials and their family members will have to declare their incomes and assets. The legislation comes just one week after Transparency International noted that corruption in the country is at its worst level for eight years. The Federal Security Service says it has terminated 120 terrorist organizations this year. Europe is ready to send its two hundred observers into Georgia to oversee the withdrawal of Russian troops, but is Russia ready to let them in? ...

TODAY: Gorbachev launches own political party; Union of Right Forces in league with the Kremlin?; Lavrov says Russia not disrupting Middle East balance of power; troop set to withdraw from Georgia this week; surprise military drill. Mikhail Gorbachev and “maverick ex-KGB officer turned billionaire banker” Alexander Lebedev have announced plans to form a new opposition political party - the Independent Democratic Party of Russia. Has the Union of Right Forces been in league with the Kremlin this year? Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is defending Russia’s military ties with Syria against accusations that they disrupt the balance of power in the Middle East. But others argue that Russia is seeking to fill the region’s vacuum of power, and regaining influence there. Russia and India have extended military cooperation for another ten years.