- Russia and Kazakhstan signed a bilateral agreement to set up an international uranium enrichment center in Siberia
- Russia and Kazakhstan agreed to create a joint gas-processing venture in Orenburg, in Russia's south Urals, Alexei Miller, the chief executive of Russian energy giant Gazprom said
- Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev said his energy-rich country intended to transport nearly all oil to global markets via Russian territory
- Vladimir Putin said United Company Russian Aluminum is working on an ambitious infrastructure project involving Kazakhstan-based assets
* Britain's Tony Blair said he has resigned as the leader of the ruling Labour Party, and will quit the post of prime minister at the end of next month
* Army Gen. Yury Baluyevsky, chief of the General Staff of Russia's Armed Forces, said after a session of the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council:
- The Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe is about to collapse
- Iran's missile threat has been exaggerated and cannot serve as grounds for deployment of elements of U.S. missile defense in Europe
* The Czech Republic opened talks with the U.S. on hosting part of Washington's missile shield in Central Europe, the Czech news agency CTK said
* A Moscow court issued arrest warrants for two suspects in a foiled terrorist attack that police say was planned for this year's V-E Day celebrations in the Russian capital
* In Ukraine:
- Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych asked the EU and Russia to act as international mediators in talks to settle an ongoing political crisis in Ukraine
- Prime Minister Yanukovych accused President Viktor Yushchenko of ignoring agreements on the country's political crisis resolution they reached on May 4, the government's press service said
- President Viktor Yushchenko said if Ukraine's political forces fail to reach a compromise to settle an ongoing crisis, a decision on snap parliamentary elections will be made by the National Security and Defense Council
- Russia may consider mediating in an ongoing political crisis in Ukraine if the former Soviet republic sends it a concrete proposal, Mikhail Kamynin, the official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said
* Russia's lower house of parliament has evidence of police brutality during riots provoked by the removal of a Soviet war memorial in Estonia's capital in late April, State Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said
* European Commission's Vice-President Guenter Verheugen called the Russian embargo on Polish meat imports illegal at a hearing on EU-Russia relations in the run-up to a summit in Samara
* Russia's government approved the ratification of a deal to build the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline signed by Greece and Bulgaria
* The U.S. 2008 defense budget approved by the House Armed Service Committee includes $42.7 million to help Russia complete a chemical weapons destruction site, despite the Administration's failure to ask for the money
* Russia's ambassador to the UN said Moscow has drafted its own plan for Kosovo, which will soon be submitted to the UN Security Council
* A United States congressional panel:
- cut administration defense spending for next year by 9% of the total requested, blocking funds to build a missile base in Poland
- blocked $10 million sought by President George Bush for the development of a space-based air defense system, a House of Representatives spokesperson said
* Iran will assist North Korea economically and help it otherwise to "stand up to arrogant global powers," First Vice President of Iran Parviz Davoodi said
* North Korea accused the U.S. of dragging its feet on Pyongyang's frozen $25 million at a time when it was ready to denuclearize, South Korean Yonhap news agency said
* Estonia's president praised security officials who had led efforts to calm down a wave of unrest following last month's removal of a Red Army monument and grave from central Tallinn
