TODAY: Biden reassures Ukraine that Russia-US reset a benefit for all; Minsk and Moscow sparring again over meat and diesel. UN human rights activists seek entry to Russia.  Medvedev backs ethics/religious education in schools; post to be opened by security services.

US Vice President Joe Biden has apparently reassured Ukraine that the US will continue to back Kiev’s bid to join NATO despite opposition from Russia.  He has allayed fears that the reset will undermine their relations: ‘The more substantive relationship we have with Moscow, the more we can defuse the zero-sum thinking about our relations with Russia’s neighbors’, and good relations with Russia ‘can actually benefit Ukraine’.  Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has urged the US to expedite the delivery of weapons to prepare the country for potential aggression from Russia.  The Russian Foreign Ministry has rebuffed US fears that nuclear cooperation with Myanmar would be a conflict with the Nonproliferation Treaty.  Yulia Latynina writes on how ‘hooligan state’ Russia has held the West hostage.