RUSSIA'S cabinet said today it supported the Kyoto Protocol, local news agencies reported, in the first concrete sign that Moscow would ratify the pact and enable the UN's global warming treaty to enter into force. The Associated Press reported President Vladimir Putin's economic adviser as saying the Kremlin had been "forced" to support the ratification of the Kyoto Protocol. Andrei Illarionov, Putin's top economic guru, made his statement during a Cabinet session that mulled over the ratification of the pact. "It's a political decision, it's a forced decision" to ratify Kyoto, Illarionov reportedly said. "It's not the decision we are making with pleasure."
If the cabinet supports the measure, it would have to submit a draft bill to the State Duma, the lower parliament house. The Duma is dominated by the Kremlin-directed United Russia party and approves nearly all bills backed by President Vladimir Putin. Putin in May pledged to speed up ratification in return for European Union approval of Russia's bid to join the World Trade Organisation.
Looks the the EU doesn't want to economically compete with an uncrippled Russian economy. |