The Moscow Times

President Vladimir Putin will travel to Belarus on May 31 for his first foreign visit since taking office earlier this month, followed by a trip to Germany and France.

In recent months, we have joined discussions led by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn, former British Defense Minister Desmond Browne and others to find a way to reduce nuclear weapons in Europe. Although we fully endorse the aim of working toward a world free of nuclear arms, we firmly believe that NATO must remain a nuclear alliance so long as these weapons continue to exist around the world.

A boom in infrastructure development at the head of the Gulf of Finland near St. Petersburg is causing stress to the environment and risk of ecological disaster.

The World Bank assessed the transportation and logistics capacity of the world's countries and ranked Russia 95th out of 155.

Whatever the reasons were for dispatching Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev to the Group of Eight summit over the weekend as a stand-in for President Vladimir Putin, one thing is clear: Medvedev was not given an independent role on foreign policy, nor is he part of a dual-key arrangement with Putin to manage the country's foreign affairs.

Sokolniki Park is gearing up to welcome up to 400,000 guests to its annual ice cream festival next weekend, and among them several new guests — foreign companies.

If Putin was seen as getting too close to Obama at Camp David, it would have been a blow to his tough-guy image as someone who stands up to the United States. At a time when the protest movement is gaining momentum in Moscow and other cities, Putin could ill afford to be seen schmoozing with Obama — whose administration, in Putin's own words, serves as the opposition's main sponsor.

Not everyone is happy that Russia will likely join the World Trade Organization this summer, and a referendum drive is under way to question the country's accession. Many Russia-based lawyers, however, welcome the nation's entry into the WTO.

President Vladimir Putin's first official visit as president will be to Belarus on May 31.

Ill-tempered air travelers might want to think twice before throwing a fit at 35,000 feet on Aeroflot. If the airline gets its way, they could be blacklisted.

At a meeting of the Collective Security Treaty Organization on Tuesday, the president said the group's influence in regional affairs will increase.

Companies will be required to submit customs declarations in advance for goods arriving by road at the Russian border, according to new regulations issued by the Federal Customs Service that will come into force in mid-June.

Officials are responsible for about half the registered violations of anti-monopoly laws, deputy head of the Federal Anti-Monopoly Service Andrei Tsarikovsky said in an interview with Rossiiskaya Gazeta.

Outspoken U.S. Senator John McCain has criticized President Vladimir Putin for a recent crackdown on protesters, as well as for oligarchy, corruption and activities in the Baltics and Ukraine.