Russian press review, 14.02.2007

The Russian press focuses on the outcome of negotiations on the North Korean nuclear programme, ways to ensure a long a happy life and the celebration of the upcoming St. Valentine's Day.

Nezavisimaya Gazeta’s experts suggest the accords reached in Beijing go back to the 1994 agreement between the U.S. and the DPRK. The paper says that agreement failed to work mainly because the Bush administration considered it ineffective. But today there's a major difference: North Korea already has nuclear weapons, which the negotiators must still find a way to eliminate.
 
Vremya Novostey quotes a senior security expert who calls the recent accords a “virtual agreement ”in which only Washington is interested. So far North Korea has sealed its nuclear reactor but not dismantled it. Moreover, the expert believes the U.S. needs this “nuclear demon” to mobilize allies in the Far East and justify its own military build up and the creation of an anti-missile defence system.

In Vedomosti, the editor of the magazine Problems of the Far East gives his opinion. He says Russia will play a significant role in the peaceful settlement of the North Korean nuclear problem, the provision of security guarantees to the DPRK and other countries of the region.

Trud front-pages forecasts of Vladimir Putin's life after his presidency expires in 2008. Mr Putin is expected to continue shaping the work of the executive branches of power even after he steps down. The daily also adds that he is entitled to an almost $ 4,000 per month life allowance, which is three fourths of his current salary.

Novye Izvestiya claims motivation, a sense of meaning, and a set goal prolong life expectancy. It relies on a recent Japanese study, where scientists monitored healthy people between the ages of 40 and 79. The experiment showed that people who were ill or committed suicide formed the majority of those who have no aim in their lives.

Rossiyskaya Gazeta looks at the results of a poll on the eve of St. Valentine's Day. Russians were asked what love means. A long and happy marriage appeared to be the most frequent answer, writes the paper. And most respondents believed true love happens only once in a lifetime.