RA’s Daily Russia News Blast – Jan. 25, 2008
TODAY: Kasyanov harassment; Putin’s carbon footprint; Rogozin to work constructively with NATO; Japanese government withdraw claims of espionage; Moscow’s wedding boom. The harassment of Mikhail Kasyanov’s campaign leaders was “a clear, a well-coordinated effort designed either to discredit the former prime minister or force him out of the race altogether” – and the latter now looks certain to be the case. According to the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin’s visit to Bulgaria last week was his 190th foreign trip, leading one journalist to note that “it is difficult to imagine anyone leaving a larger carbon footprint than Putin”. Russia’s new NATO representative, Dmitry Rogozin, has said that he is ready to work constructively with the alliance. On his appointment to the role, he said, “A country has the right to send either a traitor or a patriot. I am a patriot.” Russia has played down reports that a draft UN resolution on Iran’s nuclear programme will call for new sanctions, although Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the draft does call for countries to be vigilant in their trade with Iran.