* The speaker of the lower house of Russia's parliament, Boris Gryzlov, said:
- parliament speakers from the Group of Eight industrialized nations decided to set up a consultative council to study the situation in the sphere of energy technology and resources
- G8 member states should join efforts to fight human trafficking and the uncontrolled spread of weapons of mass destruction
- Moscow believes the existing international legal base in the sphere of fight against cyber-terrorism is insufficient and adequate legislation is necessary to respond to the threat
* Two people were killed and 12 injured in an explosion on a sewage lift station in the Moscow Region, emergencies services said
* Russia's Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin, who attended a meeting of G7 finance ministers in Singapore, said:
- Russia has voted for increasing the quota of participation in the International Monetary Fund's authorized capital for China, Turkey, South Korea and Mexico
- the increase of the ruble's average effective rate presents a more serious problem than the ruble's nominal rate
* Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych's idea that the country is unable to join the NATO Membership Action Plan is wrong and out of line with Ukraine's national interests, President Viktor Yushchenko said
