TODAY: United Russia anti-crisis meeting; Britain and Russia ‘in harmony’ ahead of G20; Merkel calls for Russia-NATO cooperation, US emphasizes NATO’s importance; more candidates for Sochi elections; Britain unhappy with Russia’s human rights; contemporary art.

United Russia’s met to discuss the government’s anti-crisis measures yesterday, where Boris Gryzlov criticized banks for not getting state aid payouts into to reach the real economy, and accused crisis protesters of getting their ideas about ‘undermining the country’ from abroad, citing ‘the rallies in Vladivostok, where the demonstrators marched with a Japanese flag.’  A more likely explanation for the use of the Japanese flag in these rallies was that it made reference to import duties on used cars coming primarily from Japan.  Russian officials were reportedly angered after a leaked British government document allegedly divided G20 members into two lists of descending importance, with Russia ‘relegated to second division status’, but other reports suggest that the British Prime Minister has noted ‘the harmony in the positions of Britain and Russia on most of the aspects of preparation for the G20 summit’.