RUSSIAN OIL AND GAS INTERESTS CALL FOR END TO EMBARGO ON IRAQ.

Vladimir Medvedev, chairman of the Oil and Gas Producers Union of Russia, told Russian radio June 9 that Moscow should press the UN to lift its embargo on Iraq. Medvedev said that Russia would profit from such a step. His words were echoed by Russian nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky but were disputed by Duma foreign affairs committee chief Vladimir Lukin last week. Lukin argued that if the embargo were lifted, Iraq would dump its oil and thus depress world oil prices. Such a decline in prices, Lukin said, would cost Russia enormous sums.

Duma Makes It Easier to Try a Deputy.