June 29, today's expectations:

The Verkhovna Rada coalition intends to elect a speaker and prime minister. Today, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine will make another attempt to elect the country's Prime Minister and Speaker of Parliament at a plenary session.

The coalition “troika” consisting of BYuT, “Our Ukraine” and SPU is going to invite deputies to vote in an open mode for two of their nominees at once - Yulia Tymoshenko and Petro Poroshenko, respectively, for the posts of prime minister and speaker.

Meanwhile, Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions is blocking the presidium and rostrum of parliament, demanding concessions, including the abolition of the “package vote.”

The ruble is being made convertible. Today the Russian government will discuss measures to achieve ruble convertibility. The head of the Ministry of Finance, Alexei Kudrin, will report on the draft relevant amendments to the Federal Law “On Currency Regulation and Currency Control”.

From July 1, 2006, all restrictions on the movement of capital are abolished in Russia. Earlier, Kudrin explained to reporters that all reporting procedures related to capital movements would be cancelled. According to Kudrin, freeing the movement of capital, along with the free movement of goods and labor, increases the flexibility of the economy.

The task of ruble convertibility was set by Russian President Vladimir Putin in his annual address to the Federal Assembly.

The presidents of Russia and Turkey exchange views on issues of world politics. Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Turkish counterpart Ahmed Necet Sezer in Moscow.

The negotiations are planned to discuss the prospects for Iraqi and Middle East settlement, the situation around the Iranian nuclear program, the situation in Transcaucasia, and the Cyprus issue. It also provides for an exchange of views on strengthening the role of the UN, combating new challenges and threats to peace and stability, and ensuring the principle of the supremacy of international law.

At the same time, Putin and Sezer will discuss the activities of the operational naval group "BLACKSEAFORD" and Russia's accession to the Turkish Navy's operation "Black Sea Harmony".

Foreign ministers of the G8 countries will gather today in Moscow to discuss international issues and prepare for the upcoming summit in St. Petersburg in mid-July. Russian President Vladimir Putin is also expected to meet with the heads of foreign affairs agencies.

Among the issues planned for discussion are, in particular, ways to combat terrorism, including measures to prevent terrorists from accessing materials from which weapons of mass destruction can be produced. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, “the idea of ​​creating an international center for providing nuclear cycle services is being studied.”

The agenda of the ministerial meeting also includes measures related to the fight against drug trafficking. The Russian Foreign Minister explained such an extensive program by the fact that the upcoming meeting of foreign ministers should “unload” the agenda of the upcoming summit in St. Petersburg.

The decision to transfer the functions of the G8 chairman to Russia in 2006 was made at the summit in Kananaskis (Canada) in June 2002.

The issue of temporarily removing Ishchenko from the post of mayor is being considered in court. Today in the Central District Court of Volgograd the hearing will resume to consider the petition of the prosecutor's office of the Volgograd region for the temporary removal of the mayor of Volgograd Evgeny Ishchenko, who is under investigation, from his post.

The petition was filed by an investigator from the regional prosecutor's office leading the case against the city mayor. As they explained to the prosecutor's office, Ishchenko, while formally remaining the head of the city administration, continues to influence his subordinates.

Previously, the mayor's lawyers insisted that any other preventive measure not related to imprisonment be chosen against their client. The mayor of Volgograd, Evgeny Ishchenko, was charged with abuse and excess of official powers, as well as illegal participation in business activities.

The presidents of Russia and Turkey exchange views on issues of world politics. In Armenia (Kotayk region) at the sports base of the resort town of Tsakhkadzor, joint tactical and special exercises of the special forces of the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Armenian police will be held. Soldiers from the special forces of the two countries will carry out an operation to free the “hostages” captured by “terrorists.”

During the training operation, special forces officers of the two countries must strengthen the skills of jointly performing operational and combat missions. Joint actions to apprehend armed criminals will also be practiced.

Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi arrived in Washington for talks with US President George W. Bush. During the meeting, the leaders are scheduled to discuss the problems of bilateral relations.

At the same time, it is expected that Bush and Koizumi will agree on economic and diplomatic pressure on North Korea to stop the alleged preparations for testing a ballistic missile.