a)     That as a result of any war the security of Russia should not suffer;

b)     Russia's economic interests should be taken into account;

c)      Moscow's relations both with Europe and America should not be interrupted;

d)     Vladimir Putin's domestic political position should not be shaken;

e)     Finally, the role and authority of the United Nations cannot be eroded by the Iraq situation, since any weakening of the UN weakens Russia's own position as a great power 

Russian football is distinguished by the fact that our footballers can drive goals into their opponents' nets basically only in the domestic league. In international matches this happens far more rarely, and our defense can't prevent frequent goals from being scored at our expense. 

In Russian international politics the same is also taking place.  Therefore, the position of the trainer of the national team is itself under threat.   

 

Yevgeny Verlin is the assistant international editor for Nezavisimaya Gazeta (http://www.ng.ru).