TODAY: Obama denies ‘quid pro quo’, Russia open to discussion despite initial refusals of exchange, cooperates on Afghanistan route; Medvedev backing bills to support small political parties; Orlando Figes says Stalin book pulled for political reasons; Khodorkovsky supporters detained.

The BBC has posted a video of Barack Obama explaining the contents of his so-called ‘secret’ letter to Russia, saying that ‘the way it got characterized I think was as some sort of quid pro quo.  It was simply a statement of facts that I’ve made previously, that the missile defense program, to the extent that is deployed, is designed to deal with not a Russian threat but an Iranian threat.’  In which case, Dmitry Medvedev’s assurances that ‘no one sets conditions on these issues with trade-offs’ may seem excessively combative.  The New York Times reports that Medvedev’s administration is open to discussing the issue. Moscow has indicated that it is willing to cooperate with the US on transport routes for supplies to Afghanistan, allowing a supply cargo through its territory by train.  Are NATO’s relations with Russia soon to be mended?  Medvedev is apparently backing two bills that, if successful, would benefit smaller political parties by reducing the number of signatures required for a party to submit to register for parliamentary elections, and securing equal coverage on state television and radio for parties represented in the State Duma.