COMMODITIES: Wheat Drives World Food Prices...To 2-Year High.

BBC/    A UN commission reports that its food price index shot up 5% between July and August. But it is still down 38% from its peak in June 2008. Officials blame the recent drought in Russia and export restrictions on wheat. The forecast for wheat has been revised for the second time in a month and to be 5% lower than in 2009.

RUSSIA: Says "Nyet" To American Chicken Imports.

NYTIMES/
The Russian government has imposed a ban on American chicken imports that started Tuesday, allegedly because American companies failed new food safety regulations. The issue is the chlorine bath that American companies use to disinfect chickens after slaughter. Russian health officials call that method unsafe, and outlawed it in 2008. The European Union has long enforced a similar ban on the procedure.
The Kremlin has also used chicken as a diplomatic weapon with the U.S. before. In 2002, after the U.S. raised steel tariffs, and shortly after Russia’s war with Georgia in 2008.

Editor's note: yesterday, I bought several 3.5 pound packages of frozen skinless,boneless chicken breasts on sale here in Austin, Texas for...$1.29 per pound! That is then LOWEST price I have seen in years. Is that price linked to the Russian ban? Probably.

UKRAINE: EU Losing Patience With Kiev, Exposing Weakness Towards Russia.

GUARDIA/UK/ COMMENTARY/ Simon Tisdale/
"EU officials are casting a wary eye at Ukraine as it prepares for watershed presidential elections in January that look likely to spark a lurch back towards the Russian sphere five years after the former Soviet republic was supposedly set free by the "Orange Revolution". The cautious approach in Brussels is again raising questions about the EU's apparent lack of a strategic vision – and political courage – in its dealing with its eastern neighbours."

Russia Breaks With OPEC...And Prospers.

NYTIMES/
“OPEC made a concerted effort to stem its exports,” Alex Fak, an oil analyst at Troika investment bank in Moscow, said. “The result of that action was higher oil prices. So Russia was encouraged to produce more and sell more. Which is what it did.”

Russian General Asserts No Decision Yet To Scrap Missiles Near Poland.

REUTERS/
Russia's top general asserted that plans to deploy missiles near Poland HAVE NOT been scrapped after the United States decided to end a missile shield in Europe. The chief of Russia's general staff, Nikolai Makarov, said: "There has been no such decision. It should be a political decision. It should be made by the president."

Reaction To Obama's Pullback From Missile Shield.

REUTERS/
Obama's move drew praise from fellow Democrats and some arms control advocates who said the Bush plan was aimed at a Iranian missile threat that did not yet exist.
While Senator John McCain said "What signal to we send to our friends in eastern Europe, and what signal do we send to (Russian Prime Minister) Vladimir Putin, who most vociferously announced on numerous occasions his opposition to this plan?"
Obama said that the United States is committed to defend the Czech Republic and Poland as required under NATO's Article V which states that an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all.

Tensions between Ukraine And Russia Increase Before Election.

WASHINGTON POST/
"Russia has redoubled its efforts to portray Ukraine as a hostile neighbor, lodging a barrage of complaints against its policies and plunging relations between the two countries to their lowest point since the fall of the Soviet Union.
The vilification campaign has puzzled and alarmed analysts here as well as in Washington and Moscow. Many say Russia is trying to tilt the electoral field even further in its favor. But because that seems unnecessary, some are also asking whether Russian leaders might be laying the groundwork for a more serious confrontation with Ukraine, just a year after a brief war with another pro-Western neighbor, Georgia."

Venezuela Gets $2.2 Billion Line Of Credit From Russia For Arms.

AP/
"The Russian government approved financing for $2.2 billion. For what? For weapons, and we must thank them," Chavez said. "We've decided to install a powerful anti-air defense system."
Last week, Chavez said the deal also included the purchase of ground-to-ground missiles with a range of up to 186 miles (300 kilometers). He said they were needed to improve Venezuela's defenses.

Chavez Buys Missiles From Russia.

AFP/
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that his country would take delivery of Russian-made missiles with a range of 300 kilometers(185 miles).
"We have signed some agreements with Russia. Soon we will begin receiving some missiles," Chavez said. He stressed the reliability of the Russian weaponry, but added that his country had "no plans to attack anybody."

On Tour With Hugo Chavez: Joking With Spain's King, Recognizing Russia's Disputed Regions.

AP.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez stirred-up more controversy during a swing through Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, Russia and former Soviet satellites. Get all the details.

Or Read The Latin American Herald Tribune's Editorial:

http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=343577&CategoryId=13303

Concern Growing In EU/NATO Over Russia's Treatment Of Neighbors.

KYIVPOST.
A recent survey reports that "Moscow's behavior toward its neighbors (Ukraine and Georgia) is of growing concern among the NATO allies."
"The most worried were the Dutch (78%) and the Americans (78%, with 35% very concerned). The least troubled were the Bulgarians (40%). But in all countries, apart from in Poland, more people were worried in 2009 than in 2008," according to the findings.

The Polish-Russian Dispute Over What Happened In 1939

NYTIMES OP-ED.
"In the Polish-Russian dispute over what happened in 1939, rival myth-making is being driven by domestic political calculations on both sides.
...it does need to be acknowledged that while Soviet victory in World War II imposed a dreadful Communist system on Poland, it also saved Poland from what would have been its infinitely more ghastly fate under Nazi rule — which we know from Hitler’s plans for the systematic destruction of the Poles as a national community."

Increasing Tensions Between The Ukraine And Russia.

NYTIMES.
Relations between the two countries are troubled with tensions in danger of bursting into open conflict.

Lithuania Seeks Better Relations With Russia.

KYIVPOST.COM.

Lithuania's new president Dalia Grybauskaite called Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week, the first official contact between heads of the two states in eight years.

"Since 2001 there have been no contacts. This is not normal between neighbouring countries. It is in the interest of the two to have constructive relations," she said.

Poland Expects U.S. Missile Shield Decision By September.

REUTERS.

Poland expects the Obama administration to decide by next month whether it will go ahead with the missile shield installation in central Europe over Russian objections.

Poland And Russia Unlikely To Sign Gas Deal Soon.

Reuters.

Poland imports about two thirds of its gas from Russia.

It will have a annual shortfall of some 2.5 billion meters in 2010 and Russia is the only supplier capable of filling it.

But Poland wants to diversify with a liquefied natural gas terminal.

Russia And Venezuela Promote Energy Alliance.

LAHT.

Georgian Was Target Of Twitter Takedown By Russians.

NYTimes.

Or were the Russians really culpable?

Could it have been the Georgian trying to gain attention for his blogs?

Here's a take on the attack from NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111706722

Putin Bares Chest, Reminds Russia That It Can Still Bare Fangs.

From the BBC.

Pix of Putin swimming...and astride a steed...present a bare-chested, rugged, uber-Russian image.

You must check-out Putin's ludicrous photos of his ONE DAY holiday where a camera crew just happened to be present!

Propaganda at its best...guaranteed to have Eastern Europeans trembling in their Pumas...and Russians drooling with respect.

Russia Charged With Altering Georgian Border.

From the NYTimes.