November 2, 2009 By Citizen M

RA’s Daily Russian News Blast – Nov 2, 2009

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TODAY: Police arrest weekend protesters; British Foreign Secretary travels to Russia to mend relations; the Stalin question; UN Human Rights Committee urges Russian reforms; simulated attacks on Poland, Kremlin campaigning against Moscow Mayor.
At least 50 protesters were detained at a ‘Dissenters March‘ in Moscow over the weekend. Reports suggest that all detainees have now been released, having been ‘disciplined‘.  British Foreign Secretary David Miliband is in Moscow for a much-anticipated meeting with Sergei Lavrov, to attempt to work through a number of contentious issues and mend relations.  ‘Mr Miliband is not expecting miracles from this trip,‘ says The Times, whose editorial suggests that the meeting, which is the first ministerial-level bilateral visit between the two in five years, suggests a slackening of protest against the death of Alexander Litvinenko.  Russia’s UK ambassador Yuri Fedotov says recent difficulties are ‘a break in normal relations‘, citing positive trade links, but blames the UK government for ‘allow[ing] political differences to spill over into the granting of visas‘.  The mother of Mikhail Khodorkovsky has appealed to Miliband to raise her son’s case during his visit.