Russia has extended a ban on importing meats from the US due to fears about swine flu, and has dismissed the US claim that it cannot be transmitted by meat, as Americans ‘protecting the interests of their exporters’, Reuters reports.  The US is optimistic it can persuade Kyrgyzstan to go back on its $2 billion agreement with Russia to close a military base considered important for US operations in Afghanistan.  An accumulation of subsidiary problems between Moscow and Washington may well mar agreements on the principle issues, Amitai Etzioni suggests in the Moscow Times.