TODAY: Head of British Council criticizes “political chess”; electoral monitoring discussions continue; Zubkov calls for US to ease pressure on Belarus. The Party of Blondes. Sochi to displace 4,000 residents. One US journalist writes that two crucial agreements — the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty and the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (Start) – should be a major focus for improving US-Russia relations. Russia says it backs the efforts of the Finnish presidency to continue discussions in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) on electoral monitoring. Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov has called on the United States to ease its pressure on Belarus, which it still refers to as “the last dictatorship in Europe”, and vowed support for its president, Alexander Lukashenko. The head of the British Council, Lord Kinnock, has criticized Russia for playing “political chess” with the organisation by harassing its staff and closing two of its offices. Russian-born British media magnate Leonid Rozhetskin, who disappeared over a week ago, could have “faked his own death”.