TODAY: Navalny expects a guilty verdict, Prokhorov slams comments by investigation spokesman; Peskov applauds competence of Magnitsky investigators; diplomatic tensions with U.S. to be addressed by Putin and Obama meetings, relationship with Germany seen to be suffering; millionaire United Russia deputies reveal earnings.

Anti-corruption blogger and opposition head Alexei Navalny says he fully expects a guilty verdict in the ‘absurd’ trial against him which, he says, was orchestrated by President Vladimir Putin.  ‘Everyone’s known for years that if Putin ever made the decision to shut me down, then he’ll shut me down.’  Billionaire politician Mikhail Prokhorov has brought attention to an interview given by Investigative Commitee spokesman Vladimir Markin, in which Markin admits that Alexei Navalny’s public profile has accelerated the inquiry against him: Prokhorov says that this statement alone would be enough to dismiss the entire case against Navalny ‘in any law-abiding state’.  Navalny has given an interview to The Wall Street Journal, in which he explains the effects of the trial on his family.  Masha Gessen comments on the closure of independent publication Bolshoi Gorod, noting that this is the latest of many independent Russian publications that have shut down in recent months.  Dmitry Peskov says that the investigation into the 2009 death of Sergei Magnitsky has been completed, and that the ‘competence’ of the investigators means that there is no need to review it.  Activists have launched an online campaign to demand the release of protesters arrested after last year’s Bolotnaya Square protest.