TODAY: Putin visits Azerbaijan, no concrete conclusions; FIFA follows IOC in pressing Russia  on anti-gay laws; talk show host defends homophobic remarks; Navalny joins Moscow mayor debate, Sobyanin sits out; Lavrov warns E.U. on Gazprom.

President Vladimir Putin visited his counterpart in Azerbaijan yesterday in a visit ‘widely seen as a sign that Azerbaijan is seeking to stay close to Moscow after deciding in June to cancel participation in the Nabucco pipeline’.  Following the meeting, Rosneft signed a broad oil and gas agreement with SOCAR, although no specific project was mentioned and the contract was ‘vague’, says Reuters, speculating that Russia may have been disappointed at failing to secure something that could have done more ‘to challenge the dominance of Western energy majors in the former Soviet republic’.  Azerbaijan’s defense industry collaboration with Russia is allegedly worth $4 billion, and both sides want to see it grow.  FIFA, the world governing body for soccer, echoed the International Olympic Committee by asking Russian authorities for ‘clarification and more details’ about anti-gay laws and how they might affect fans and athletes at the 2018 World Cup.  Yulia Latynina goes after the hypocrisy of the ‘gay propaganda’ law.  Talk show host Dmitry Kiselyov defended himself after an online video of his televised anti-gay remarks went viral.