TODAY: Russia and Ukraine agree on gradual rise in energy prices, disagree over Georgian arms; Czech government suspicious of Russian intelligence; will troops withdraw from Georgia? Union of Right Forces disbands, Kremlin pressure suspected; Politkovskaya case reaches court. Russia and Ukraine have agreed on a gradual rise in gas prices over the next three years, as opposed to an immediate sharp rise that many predicted. ‘We came to the conclusion that our countries don’t need price shock therapy,’ said Yulia Tymoshenko, although Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed some doubt about future relations between the two countries, and tensions over allegations that Ukraine supplied arms to Georgia remain strong. ‘I don’t think there is a graver crime than supplying arms to a conflict zone,’ Putin said. The Czech government is concerned over intensified intelligence activity by, it alleges, Russian agencies. Russia has allowed EU observers into Georgia’s breakaway territories to oversee their planned troop withdrawal, but reports suggest that they aren’t seeing much. The EU Council’s Parliamentary Assemble (PACE) wants Russia to annul its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Next week, Russia will hold its largest air force exercises since the collapse of the Soviet Union ‘to demonstrate its force to the world, particularly the US’. It also plans to deploy a new nuclear missile next year.