TODAY: EU releases statement on Moldova; Ukraine and Russia to resume talks; Belarusian President appeals for transparency in relations with Russia; are politicians’ wives really earning more than they do?

The EU has issued a statement that assures recognition of Moldovan sovereignty, in response to Russian-voiced concerns that the Union stoked up the country’s post-election protests.  Louis O’Neill, OSCE ambassador and head of mission to Moldova from 2006 to 2008, examines the Kremlin’s ‘nightmare scenario‘ of Moldovan sympathies turning westwards in the Moscow Times.  Prime Minister Putin and Ukrainian Prime Minister, Yulia Timoshenko, have consulted on when discussions will resume between the two countries on the issues of trade and energy.  Sergei Lavrov has praised US willingness to seek diplomatic solutions with Iran in an interview with Voice of Russia radio station.