- They expected Tehran to respond to proposals on halting uranium enrichment at a meeting July 5 between the EU's foreign policy chief and Iran's top nuclear negotiator
- They urged North Korea to resume talks and to ensure that the Korean peninsula is a nuclear-free zone
- Palestinian and Israeli leaders should abstain from unilateral action that could cast doubt on the final status of Palestinian territories
- They condemned the murder of Russian diplomats in Iraq earlier in the month and call for the killers to be punished
- They welcomed the opening of direct negotiations between Serbia and its province of Kosovo
- They call on Armenia and Azerbaijan to outline principles for resolving the long-running Nagorny Karabakh territorial dispute this year
* Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said:
- Russia wanted to see the same rules for all participants in global energy markets
* Iran's foreign minister said Tehran would respond to international proposals on regulating the Iranian nuclear problem in August
* Alexei Ulyukayev, the first deputy chairman of Russia's Central Bank, said:
- The bank could sign an agreement with the Finance Ministry on administering money in the Stabilization Fund next week
- Inflation in Russia stood at 0.2% from June 1 to 19 and is expected to be 0.3% for the month
* The Cabinet's press service said Russia's government had approved legal amendments lifting currency restrictions and paving the way for a fully convertible ruble
* A district court in the Central Russian city of Volgograd temporarily suspended Yevgeny Ishchenko from his post as the city's mayor over charges with abuse of office
* The Prosecutor's Office said Russia's new Prosecutor General Yury Chaika had ordered that a new department tasked with fighting corruption in the country be set up
* Ukraine's main opposition Party of Regions said it had issued an ultimatum to the coalition majority
* Gazprombank, a subsidiary of Russian natural gas giant Gazprom, said its pre-tax profit had increased more than 200% year on year in the first five months of 2006, to 11.8 billion rubles (about $437 million)
* Gazprom said Turkmenistan had confirmed it would supply the Russian energy giant with natural gas at $65 per 1,000 cu m, and had offered extra supplies at $100