- Russia and the European Union plan to sign a new partnership agreement that Moscow proposes naming the Strategic Partnership Treaty
- Russia is not opposed to the European Energy Charter's principles, but a number of its provisions should be amended
- The leaders of the European Union and Russia said that energy cooperation should be based on the principles of predictability and stability in the energy market
- Russian energy giant Gazprom's decision to develop the Shtokman deposit on its own does not mean that the rules in relations between Russia and foreign investors have changed
- The problem around the giant Sakhalin II oil and gas project on Russia's largest Far East island may be resolved through talks
- Russia depends more on Russian natural gas consumers than they depend on its supplies
- Russia's parliament is working on laws that will attract foreign investment into the country's economy and minimize the number of spheres where foreign capital will not be welcome
- The situation in Georgia could lead to bloodshed but Russia's leadership is glad to hear voices from Georgia calling for the normalization of bilateral relations
* Iran's Foreign Ministry warned the European Union and other countries involved in talks on its controversial nuclear program not to use threats and pressure
* Russia may have questions over a statement adopted by European Union foreign ministers on Georgian-Russian relations, Russia's Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said
* Sakhalin Energy, the operator of the troubled Sakhalin II oil and gas project on Russia's largest Far East island, said in a letter to the Natural Resources Ministry that it would submit a detailed plan next week on rectifying environmental violations
* The Russian Prosecutor General's Office said it has launched a criminal case against government staff officials for disclosing secret state information to Anglo-Russian joint oil venture TNK-BP
* Russian Industry and Energy Minister Viktor Khristenko said:
- Natural gas prices for domestic industrial consumers will approach the European level of an average $230 per 1,000 cubic meters by 2015
- Mezhregiongaz, a Gazprom subsidiary that manages domestic sales, will sell natural gas at a market price
- The formation of the United Aircraft Building Corporation (UABC) will be completed by April 2007
* Russian Deputy Industry and Energy Minister Andrei Dementyev said:
- A new expert review that envisions increased spending on the giant Sakhalin II project will be ready by December
- Russia does not intend to reduce its oil production following OPEC's decision to cut its quota to 1.2 million barrels per day
* The giant Sakhalin II oil and gas project on Russia's largest Far East island is becoming less beneficial for Russia, and raises doubt over production-sharing agreements in the country, Viktor Orlov, the chairman of the Federation Council's committee on natural resources and environment protection, said
* Russia's Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said he intends to discuss North Korea's nuclear program with the U.S. secretary of state during her upcoming visit
* Investigators know the motive for the murder of prominent Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya, Alexander Buksman, the first deputy prosecutor general, said
* Russia's Central Bank said it has reduced its refinancing rate from 11.5% to 11%
* Fifty-three gunmen have been killed and about 300 have surrendered in Chechnya since the start of 2006, the interior minister of Russia's North Caucasus republic said
* Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych promised uninterrupted natural gas transit to Europe across his country's territory, the Ukrainian government's press service said
