An aide to the Russian judge who convicted Mikhail Khodorkovsky at his second trial last year has said he did not write his own verdict. Judge Viktor Danilkin resented having to take orders from above during the trial of the former tycoon, Natalya Vasilyeva told Russian media. Read the full story

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin says he has met the Russian agents recently deported from the US – and claimed they were living “tough lives” and had been “betrayed”. Read the full story

Ukraine’s President Viktor Yanukovych has told the BBC he will not let Russia’s state gas monopoly Gazprom take control of his country’s gas pipeline network. Read the full story

Media watchdog group Reporters Without Borders has named the leaders of China, Russia and Rwanda as some of the world’s worst “predators of freedom”. Read the full story

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a series of key energy deals with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a visit to the capital, Caracas. Read the full story

Looking to form a counterbalance to the power of the US, Beijing called on Moscow, as one of the emerging market economies, to enter into an alliance with China seeking to increase their leverage in global affairs. Read the full story

US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and her Russian counterpart clashed openly on Thursday over the planned startup this summer of Iran’s first, Russian-built nuclear power plant, highlighting a split in views over how to steer Iran away from nuclear weapons. Read the full story

Nine members of a Russian white supremacist group have been jailed for up to 22 years each in connection with the killing of a man from Cameroon. Read the full story

According to Reuters, Rozhkov – when asked by a reporter what sanctions Russia might support – replied, “Those that are directed at resolving nonproliferation questions linked to Iran’s nuclear program. Read the full story

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Sunday that he will press the case for “crippling sanctions” against Iran when he visits Russia this week. Read the full story

Russia is to supply Libya with small-arms and other weapons to the value of $1.8bn (£1.1bn, 1.3bn euros), Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has announced. Read the full story