TODAY: Medvedev pushes for cooperation in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.  Lavrov says no justification for Ukrainian expulsions; mortars rumble in South Ossetia as anniversary tensions brew; Russia puts the no in NATO.  Journalist denied entry to Lithuania. No smokes for soldiers.

In his meeting with leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan President Medvedev spoke of their ‘common space’, ‘which should be filled with all sorts of projects’ emphasizing energy, trade and transport.  Will today’s CSTO summit be hindered by differences?  In the capital of South Ossetia two loud explosions have been reported, serving an a disturbing reminder of the imminent anniversary of last year’s five-day war.  South Ossetia apparently intends to demand the return of its former territory, the Truso Gorge, which was transferred to Georgia during the Soviet era.  South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity has said that he believes that there is no likelihood of an attack by Georgia.  Abkhazian Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba has met with the EU special representative for the South Caucasus to discuss the possibility of the EU opening diplomatic relations with the state.  There is talk in Bloomberg of the divisive elections in Moldova causing unrest in the agitated state.