TODAY: Medvedev suggests another turnaround on WTO?; reserve currency symbolically showcased. FBI to be in on Klebnikov investigation; knock-on effects of Cherkizovsky market closure

President Medvedev has announced at a post-G8 press conference his belief that it would be ‘simpler and more realistic’ for Russia to join the WTO unilaterally.  The President also defended the utility of international bodies such as the G8, with aide Sergei Prikhodko saying, ‘it’s too early to bury the G8. We need to continue the collective analysis’.  On the issue of a reserve currency, Medvedev put his money where his mouth is, and produced a coin of the ‘United Future World Currency’, also known as ‘eurodollars‘ in an attempt to demonstrate the potential benefits of a new reserve currency.  He also returned to a tough stance on US missile defense, calling it ‘harmful’ and ‘threatening’ and maintaining that should a missile shield be used, Russia would deploy rockets in the Kaliningrad exclave near Poland.  He also acknowledged that he shares more common points and views with Barack Obama than with his predecessor, George Bush.