Premier Wen Jiabao and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin walk outside the Great Hall of the People in Beijing Tuesday after arriving for an official welcoming ceremony.[China Daily/ Xu Jingxing]Russia's Putin Says 'Too Early' For Iran Sanctions -- AFP
BEIJING — Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said here Wednesday that it was "too early" to discuss sanctions against Iran over its disputed nuclear programme.
"I believe it's too early to speak of them," Putin told reporters at the end of a visit to Beijing, when asked about the possibility of sanctions against Tehran.
"There is no need to scare the Iranians," the prime minister said. "There is a need to reach agreements."
Read more ....
Update #1: Putin: Iran sanctions talk premature -- AP
Update #2: Russia rejects, for now, talk about sanctions against Iran -- McClatchy News
My Comment: What is Secretary of State Clinton doing in Russia?
The Wall Street Journal summed it up best .... Hillary Clinton Gets Nothing Out of the Russians. Even her wish to meet PM Putin is not going to happen, Putin is in China doing business that he perceives is more important to Russia than meeting the U.S. Secretary of State.
Worse, it is today that we also learn that Russia has adopted a nuclear first strike policy against what it perceives could be threats to its sovereignty .... NATO and the U.S. are included in this perception of what could be a threat.
No one in the American media is saying it (unlike the Russian media which is pointing this out) , but she is out of her depth in Moscow.
This trip was incredible ill prepared from the start, and has only help to diminish U.S. relations with Russia. The Russian Press and punditry are all pointing this out, being effectively used by the Russian Government to point out American weakness and its irrelevance in Russian affairs. Heads should roll for this fiasco, but my bet is that nothing is going to happen.