Yanukovych, Medvedev to meet today in Sochi

Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev are due to meet today in the Sochi, a Russian Black Sea resort, according to an announcement on Yanukovych’s website. Brad Wells: While no official comment has been made on either side, topics up for discussion are believed to be ways to include Ukraine in Russia’s Customs Union with Belarus and Kazakhstan, Ukraine’s requests for a lower gas price, a potential merger between Gazprom and Naftogaz, and possibly Ukraine’s detention of opposition leader Yulia Tymoshenko. No major breakthroughs are expected. An important indicator will be the tone of the meeting as relations appear to have somewhat cooled since Yanukovych took office. After six one-on-one presidential meetings in 2010, according to Yanukovych’s website, this is only the second meeting this year.