TODAY: Obama says Russia proposal on Syria could lead to ‘breakthrough’; Medvedev warns Ukraine; Roizman accused of rigging vote; Navalny demands recount, celebrates result at ‘victory rally’; large state companies may be forced to allocate dividends; boost to agricultural support and Thai ties. 

U.S. President Barack Obama says that Russia’s latest proposal on Syria is a potential ‘breakthrough’ that would ward off the threat of a U.S. military strike.  Obama and President Vladimir Putin have tentatively discussed a plan under which Syria would cede control of its chemical weapons stockpile to international authorities, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov subsequently said that Moscow would ‘immediately’ try to persuade Syria to agree.  Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev urged Ukraine to back off from its plans to join a European Union trade bloc, vowing to block Ukraine’s entry to Russia’s customs union if it does not comply.  Anders Aslund says the Kremlin is ‘on an offensive to expand this entity of unwilling allies’ in its push for a ‘political Eurasian Union’.  In Yekaterinburg, opposition leader (and Prokhorov ally) Yevgeny Roizman celebrated his election as mayor, amid accusations of rigged voting.  The opposition candidate for Moscow mayor, Alexei Navalny, demanded that the vote be recounted yesterday, and refused to recognise official results, under which Sergei Sobyanin was declared the winner, but only just.  At the final count, Sobyanin had only slightly more than the 50% of votes needed to avoid a second round.