TODAY: Gazprom will block any reverse gas flow to EU; Merkel and Obama stand firm; Putin turns away from aggressive youth policy; ECHR condemns Georgian deportation; Borodin accused of embezzlement; Conservative Party questioned over pro-Russia donors.

EU Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger insists that EU companies have the ‘absolute right’ to sell Russian gas to Ukraine, though Gazprom says it will impose restrictions if it detects any reverse flow on its gas measuring stations.  The Economist sees the Ukraine crisis devolving into an era of ‘warlordism, or the rise of authorities who rely for their position not on ideology but on force and patronage’.  But ostensibly, says the Washington Post, Putin is now after a truce.  Various EU governments are considering stopping or restricting funds to Russian projects if peace is not restored in Ukraine by next week.  US President Barack Obama and German Chancellor Angela Merkel continue to be in dialogue on punitive measures.  Comments by President Vladimir Putin indicate that the Kremlin will move away from its previous policy of backing aggressive political youth groups, saying that the aim was to promote Russia’s ‘historical, cultural and natural riches’.  The European Court of Human Rights condemned Russia for the mass deportation of Georgian citizens in 2006.