RUSSIAN FEDERATION SITREP

LITVINENKO. A British court has ruled that national security demands secrecy. Remember what a simple case this was sold to you as: enemy of Putin murdered by Russians? What do you suppose they’re trying to hide?

GREENPEACERS. The last one has been granted bail and maybe they will be let go. But, again, I am fascinated by the hostility to GP shown in comments topuff pieces like this one. Again, dear readers, I notice there no campaign in the Western media on this one. Is it because the campaign-funder-in-chief is no more? Or do people not like GP? But they wouldn’t have liked Pussy Riot if they’d known what it actually was…

CORRUPTION. Putin vowed to continue to struggle against official corruption, regardless of  rank or party membership, reminding his listeners of the fate of Vyacheslav Dudka, former governor and member of United Russia, now in prison.

SERDYUKOV. Charges of negligence have been brought against him. The investigation grinds away.

At last. After years of delay, the carrier INS Vikramaditya (Admiral Gorshkov as was) has been handed over to the Indian Navy and sailed for there. India is a large arms customer for Russia and likely to continue to be.

UKRAINE AND EU. At the last moment, Kiev walked out of the EU association agreement. Despite the PM’s explanation that IMF’s conditions were "the last straw”; despite the official statement that the EU did not pay enough attention to "Ukraine’s needs”; despite fears that an agreement would put costs up; despite concerns about Ukraine’s independence; despite the EU’s interfering demands; the MSM has concluded that it knows the real reason: Russia.This piece actually describes the years of  insults and goalpost-moving Kiev endured from Brussels before it puts the blame on Russia. The arrogance of the West is astonishing: whatever we want is, ipso facto, in your best interests too. Kiev is playing its suitors for the best deal possible from its perspective and the bidding is still open: Azerov just said that this does not mean the Ukraine will join the Customs Union. Curious that Kiev might see Moscow as a more trustworthy partner but, after replacement of governments in Greece and Italy and bank raids in Cyprus, perhaps it has reasons to fear for its independence as a small player on the edge of the EU. Thanks to the great psychic divide between east and west in Ukraine, there are large protests. Canada just negotiated a free trade deal with the EU and it is a member of NAFTA. Is it impossible for Ukraine to have some of both?

IRAN. The agreement was announced but there is already disagreement about its meaning. Doesn’t look good.

GEORGIA. Giorgi Margvelashvili was inaugurated as President last Sunday, Saakashvili did not attend and is still out of the country (bet he doesn’t come back). Irakli Garibashvili is the new PM. True to his word, Ivanishvili announced he was leaving politics but will remain "active” (I still think Putin should have done that). Some Western players are starting to worry that Saakashvili may be charged with crimes – well, all I can say is that they should have paid closer attention to what they were supporting in the first place. Remarks by the US Ambassador have caused some excitement in Tbilisi: "Abkhazians and Ossetians were treated by Georgians in the same way as Russians had treated Georgians and Georgia will have to apologize for the mistakes of the past”. Is Washington starting to see reality, or is this just a blip?

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