Prime Minister Vladimir Putin enthusiastically raised the subject of abolishing visas for travel between the US and Russia to Vice President Joe Biden today, but his idea received a cool reception. ‘Mr. Prime Minister, in case you haven’t noticed, there’s a real difference between being president and vice president,‘ said Biden.  Following his meeting with opposition leaders, Boris Nemtsov blogged that Biden said he was against the notion of a third term from Putin. ‘He was very reactive and asked tons of questions‘, wrote Nemtsov, with another rights campaigner, Lyudmila Alexeyeva, saying that Biden promised to press Russia on human rights and democracy.  US Missile defense in Poland remains a thorny issue for Russia.  On the domestic front, regional elections will be held this Sunday.  United Russia is expected to lead the vote, but reports suggest that support for the party is at a slump, with opposition members on the watch for vote-rigging. Not that it needs to worry: ‘with no other party offering a serious challenge to United Russia, the ruling party’s “main competitor at the elections will be its own result”.‘