TODAY: Kremlin will not budge on USAID removal, says U.S. were warned; Medvedev defends his cabinet against Putin attack; Polish President urges Ukraine to choose between E.U. and Russia; Kyrgyz deals boost Russia’s Central Asian influence; Orthodox activists detained at demo; Litvinenko inquest to be held next year. Raspadskaya losses.

The Kremlin is holding firm on its orders that USAID end its Russia-based operations by October 1, denying Hillary Clinton’s request for an extension.  Russia is adamant that ‘[t]he decision has been made, and the decision of a sovereign state should be carried out in full.’  A spokesperson for the Foreign Ministry insists that, as the U.S. administration were informed about the move in June, their portrayal of it as a surprise is a distortion of events. ‘In principle, everyone understood and knew about this problem’.  Defending against allegations that USAID tried to affect political process in Russia, a U.S. State Department spokesperson says that United Russia participated in some of the agency’s programmes, and that they did not only benefit opposition groups.  Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev defended his cabinet against yesterday’s accusations from President Vladimir Putin. ‘When I worked as president, I never liked [the budget] either.’  This article looks at the various measures made during Medvedev’s rule that have since been reversed by Putin’s government; his moving Russia to permanent summer time will also be reversed.  The Polish President has urged his Ukrainian counterpart to decide whether to align with the E.U. or join a Russian-led customs union. ‘It is impossible to implement these two scenarios at the same time.’  The decision to write off nearly $500 million of Kyrgyzstan’s debts in exchange for various military and energy deals ‘reinforce[s] the Kremlin’s influence in Central Asia’.