TODAY: No result on gas talks with Ukraine, peace talks faring better; Poroshenko says ‘not interested’ in Putin’s view; Bulgaria pulls back on South Stream announcement; atomic energy complex approved; promise of greater web regulation boosts Yandex; Politkovskaya murderers given life sentences.

Despite a full day of talks, Russia, Ukraine, and the European Commission are no closer to resolving their ongoing gas pricing row, but Kiev says it has reached a ‘mutual understanding’ with Moscow on some parts of a peace plan to end violence in the east.  In an interview with TIME magazine, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko indicates that his sights are set on alliances with the West and a prosperous economy: ‘To be honest, I’m not very interested in what Citizen Putin thinks of my state.’  Poroshenko’s position indicates that he needs Western, not Russian help – so much for Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s iteration that Russia is doing all it can to help resolve the Ukraine crisis.  A recent poll by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center indicates that state television’s angle on Ukraine is winning over the population – 43% of Russians now see Poroshenko as representing the interests of the U.S. and E.U.  Russian industry analysts said news that Bulgaria had suspended construction of the South Stream gas pipeline amounted to the West somehow imposing ‘economic sanctions by stealth’; but Bulgaria says its construction plans are merely on hold, and that they will be resumed once structural issues have been resolved, and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov says it’s too early to make any official comment on the news.  Vladimir Frolov draws comparisons between Putin’s Russia and Iran.