RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – April 23, 2009
TODAY: Sergei Lavrov opens talks in Pyongyang; Russians skeptical about Medvedev’s level of power; Medvedev’s blog flooded with comments; PM to have access to state secrets?; Siberia sells ‘anti-democracy’ truck
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has arrived in North Korea for two days of talks regarding nuclear issues and bilateral talks. Despite critical noises, Lavrov has said that Russia does not see NATO as ‘an inherent source of danger‘ but rather as a core factor in ‘Euro-Atlantic security’. As the end of his first year in office approaches, a survey says only 15% of Russians believe that President Medvedev is really in charge, with 27% believing that Putin pulls the strings, the Moscow Times reports. ‘Any of us can write what we want, and nothing will happen to us?‘ was one of the first comments to be posted on Medvedev’s new blog.