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* RUSSIA REJECTS CRITICISM FROM U.S. INTELLIGENCE CHIEF

*IS THERE A NUCLEAR ELEMENT IN RUSSIAN-JAPANESE RELATIONS?

* RUSSIAN SENATOR SAYS IRAN MIGHT MANUFACTURE NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

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RUSSIA

RUSSIA REJECTS CRITICISM FROM U.S. INTELLIGENCE CHIEF. Foreign

Ministry spokesman Andrei Krivtsov said on February 28 that Russia cannot accept recent comments by U.S. Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell that it is backsliding on democracy, Interfax reported (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 28, 2007). Krivtsov stressed that "as a former Sovietologist...McConnell has old, outdated assumptions. His judgment is groundless, and is contrary to the character and state of Russia-U.S. relations." McConnell previously said that "those that [President Vladimir Putin] is listening to are extremely conservative and very suspicious of the United States. [They] interpret things through a lens that portrays Russia as the downtrodden, or [that indicates that] we're trying to hold them back to the advantage of the United States." PM

MINISTER SAYS 'MAJORITY' OF COUNTRIES AGREE WITH PUTIN ABOUT U.S..

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview published in the state-run daily newspaper "Rossiiskaya gazeta" on February 28 that Washington tends to take a unilateral approach to resolving issues it deems important and dictate to other countries rather than treat them as partners, mid.ru reported. Lavrov added that Putin's February 10 speech in Munich, which was widely regarded outside Russia as unusually aggressive toward the United States, constituted "nothing new."

He argued that President Putin's comments reflect views that he and other Russian officials had expressed previously, and that "a majority" of Russia's foreign "partners" share Putin's opinions. He did not give specifics (see "RFE/RL Newsline," February 12 and 13, 2007). Germany's "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung" wrote on February 27 that the Kremlin's recent assertiveness in foreign policy stems from its renewed self-confidence thanks to its oil and gas wealth and from its perception that the United States is overextended abroad and hence weakened.

The paper added that recent Russian behavior suggests that Western countries should reexamine their assumptions that Russia avoids challenges to the status quo and confrontation, supports only multilateral approaches in international relations, backs arms control, and has come to terms with NATO expansion. The Gazprom-owned daily "Izvestia" quoted one Russian expert on February 28 as saying that Russia will not become a member of the EU or NATO and hence is destined to be an "independent center of power" governed by its own rules.

A second contributor pointed out that Putin has now made it clear that he seeks to avoid a situation in which any single power or "world order...can threaten Russia's existence." A third expert argued that Putin's speech shows that Russia will not allow itself to be surrounded by states or weapons hostile to its interests and wants the United States to recognize Moscow's sphere of influence in its own immediate neighborhood. A fourth writer noted that Russia has only itself to blame for the Western presence in CIS countries, because Moscow never came up with its own coherent strategy for the region. Several contributors suggested that Russia has made itself economically and strategically vulnerable by its dependence on oil and gas exports, but also that it is now a power that foreigners have to take into account. PM

IS THERE A NUCLEAR ELEMENT IN RUSSIAN-JAPANESE RELATIONS? Japanese

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov discussed nuclear and other forms of economic cooperation in Tokyo on February 28, news agencies reported. Abe told reporters that "we agreed that the our two nations' economic relations need a lot of improvement and still hold a lot of potential. For a start, we have agreed to begin talks on a Japan-Russia nuclear power plant deal" as part of a nuclear cooperation pact, japantimes.co.jp reported. Russia wants to enrich uranium used at Japan's many nuclear facilities and reuse it in Russian plants. Fradkov assured potential Japanese investors that "we are prepared to deal with and resolve various concerns...[such as] bureaucracy, corruption, and lack of law enforcement." Abe noted that 15 business deals were concluded during the two-day visit by Fradkov and a large delegation. Abe also said, however, that the two sides need to resolve the outstanding territorial issues dividing them.

The two countries never concluded a peace treaty ending World War II because of a decades-old dispute over the four Russian-held southern Kurile Islands. Relations between Moscow and Tokyo have been strained in recent months, primarily because of a fatal incident involving Japanese fishermen and Russian border police in August 2006 and Russia's behavior in the dispute over the Sakhalin-2 natural-gas project, which affected the Japanese companies Mitsui and Mitsubishi (see "RFE/RL Newsline," August 22, September 20, and December 15 and 22, 2006). But the Moscow daily "Nezavisimaya gazeta" noted on February 28 that Tokyo now, in practice, separates the territorial issue from economic ones and increasingly invests in Russia.

The paper added that Japanese companies recently agreed to "participate in building a large oil refinery on Russia's Pacific coast, at the end of the Eastern Siberia-Pacific Ocean export pipeline, which is currently under construction. The new oil refinery will have an annual capacity of 20 million tons of oil, and will cost [up to] $7 billion to build." Japan is anxious to tap into the natural resources of the Russian Far East, which also attract China and South Korea. PM

RUSSIAN SENATOR SAYS IRAN MIGHT MANUFACTURE NUCLEAR WEAPONS.

Mikhail Margelov, who chairs the Federation Council's International Relations Committee, said in Moscow on March 1 that his recent visit to Iran led him to believe that Tehran might use its nuclear energy program to produce an atomic weapon, news.ru reported.

Margelov added that his talks with top Iranian officials, including the foreign minister, gave him the impression Iran is "not excluding any variant" for the development of its nuclear program. He noted that his interlocutors avoided giving him direct answers to questions about a possible nuclear weapons program, RIA Novosti reported.

Margelov said that political atmosphere in Tehran "smells of gunpowder," Interfax reported. He added that "there is tension in the Iranian political elite, and that was apparent at every meeting."

Margelov said he believes that "the Americans do not rule out a strike on Iran. It may be a targeted strike.... An incursion in Iran will be the political death of U.S. President George W. Bush." He stressed that "neither bombings nor incursions will solve the problem" posed by Iran's nuclear program. PM