Yes, those things were all done by the secret agents of Putin you see. So he could win the election. Never mind that he already had something like 90% of the vote going in. These elections can get close, you can never be sure.
Better kill some more of your fellow citizens in case they change their minds at the last minute.
Now how that explains Basayev taking 1500+ people hostage in a hospital in Buddenovsk, when Yeltsin was still running the country, don't ask me Perhaps they knew in advance Putin was coming? Early security work for that scary and close election?
Two years ago, North Korea agreed with the United States to stop testing long-range missiles until 2003 in exchange for the U.S. lifting some economic sanctions on North Korea.
The announcement was made during negotiations with President Vladimir Putin in Moscow, by the deputy head of the Russian president's administration, Sergei Prikhodko. It followed the signing in Moscow of a memoradum between Russia and North Korea.
Both sides reaffirmed the importance of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty which the U.S. is currently trying to amend in order to proceed with the testing of a missile defence system.
The Kremlin aide said negotiations also touched on the issues of strategic stability, trade and economic issues and international issues.
Washington says its missile defence system is planned to protect it from attacks from what it calls "rogue states" like North Korea. Russia and China are key opponents of the plan, saying it could lead to a new arms race.
A key part of the Moscow Declaration signed by Kim and Putin on Saturday insisted that Washington's fears were groundless.
"North Korea asserts that its missile programme is peaceful in nature and does not present a threat to nations respecting North Korea's sovereignty," RIA news agency quoted the declaration as saying.
"The Russian Federation and North Korea, recognising that international relations should consistently guarantee independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity, support the right of every state to the same degree of safety," RIA quoted the pact as saying.
Before his meeting with Putin at the Kremlin, Kim laid wreaths at the Lenin mausoleum on Red Square and the adjacent Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, ITAR-Tass news agency said.
He was the first foreign head of state to lay wreath at the mausoleum in the post-Soviet era.
Words on the wreath said “Kim Jong Il - Vladimir Lenin” in Korean script.
Kim arrived in Moscow late on Friday after a marathon nine-day trip across Russia from Pyongyang in a private bulletproof train.
His trip has been shrouded in secrecy and tight security.
Like his father, the late North Korean leader Kim Il Sung who is idolised as a virtual god in the country, the younger Kim is rumoured to have a severe fear of flying.
Before the talks, Putin said he was pleased that Kim had finally arrived in the Russian capital.
“You have done the same thing as your father once did,” Putin told Kim, adding that he had seen more of Russia during his journey than many Russian politicians.
Kim said he was looking forward to the meeting and said the Moscow Declaration would strengthen ties and renew understanding between the former communist allies.
Putin and Kim were expected to meet twice -- initially for a one-on-one session, then for a later meeting when they will be joined by aides.
Topping the agenda for talks between the two leaders is expected to be North Korean requests for Russian assistance in modernising the country's outdated industry.
North Korea has been relying on outside aid to feed its 22 million people since 1994 and Kim is under intense pressure to deliver results in rebuilding his country's tattered economy.
Aid in developing North Korea's rail network is also up for discussion -- a subject that is obviously close to Kim's heart.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Ilya Klebanov, who met North Korean Vice Premier Cho Chang Dok shortly after Kim's arrival, said the two sides planned to talk over a proposed link up of North Korea's rail network with the trans-Siberian line.
If plans for an inter-Korean rail link go ahead that could open the way to direct rail services between South Korea and Europe.
"This project is being finalised in Moscow," Klebanov was quoted as saying. Russian aid
The Russian news agency ITAR-Tass said the two leaders would sign a memorandum of understanding granting Russian assistance in the modernisation of four thermal power plants and a steel mill in North Korea.
An agreement on substantial sales of Russian arms and other military hardware to Pyongyang is also expected to be inked.
After meeting Putin, Kim is expected to travel on to the former Imperial capital of St Petersburg, before making the long journey back home, once again by rail.
The meeting of the two leaders proved more successful than expected This time around, the official formula "the president is fully satisfied with the results of the visit" turned out to be not only eloquent but also entirely truthful. Within several hours that he spent in Pyongyang, Vladimir Putin achieved all that he had set out to achieve: He was guaranteed both close attention on the part of the G-8 heads of state and a role as a kind of discoverer of North Korea as well as, possibly, peace-maker's credentials.
The start of the visit was marred by a minor snag: Departure from Beijing had to be delayed because of a thunderstorm over the North Korean capital. Later, Kim Jong Il , with his oriental grandiloquence, explained to Vladimir Putin that rain was certainly an excellent thing for the agricultural sector but not quite so beneficial for the one million ordinary Pyongyang residents who had put on their Sunday best and gone to the streets to welcome the Russian president. Luckily, the downpour soon ended and the ceremony proceeded exactly as planned: The jubilant crowds of people, neatly arranged on an airfield, shouted "Hurrah!" to the accompaniment of a gun salute while young pioneers put a red bandanna around Putin's neck.
The arrival of the Russian head of state in the North Korean capital was a major event: Kim Jong Il, who does not often appear in public, for the first time turned up to meet a distinguished guest at the airport. So the Pyongyang residents' delight over a rare opportunity to behold their leader was so great and so clamorous that it effectively drowned out the roar of the presidential jet. Kim Jong Il courteously met Putin at the ramp and was indulgent toward the young Russian leader's habits: When the latter unexpectedly went to the crowd to shake hands with the common folk, Kim merely waved his hand and stood waiting on the carpet.
Everything else took place in a sprawling residence called Pavilion of One Hundred Flowers. At first Putin and Kim met one on one. The meeting was so fruitful that it lasted an hour longer than planned. The Russian president said the conversation had proceeded in a very intimate atmosphere. The result: a joint declaration. The sides had reportedly kept amending the text until the very last moment and so it turned out to be more meaningful and substantive than they had hoped.
Yet perhaps more important than the declaration itself were the details of the meeting that Vladimir Putin later chose to reveal. His comment was basically designed to improve North Korea's image. Terms such as "unpredictable country" or "rogue state" are now gradually losing their meaning. According to Putin, North Korea "is ready to use foreign missile technologies in its space research projects." That statement by the Russian president was primarily addressed to the United States. Putin, on his own admission, believes that instead of retaliating a threat (read: deploying a US national missile defense system), it would be better to attempt to minimize that threat. And Russia is ready to act as mediator in that process.
Furthermore, Russia is ready to assume an active role in facilitating a Korean settlement. True, the wording was different this time - Putin pointed out that "this is really up to the Koreans themselves to decide." Nonetheless, if Pyongyang is agreeable to the suggestion, Russia could help restore the railroad line that passes through both Korean states before it joins Russia's Trans-Siberian Railroad. Although apparently very down-to-earth, this is a purely political issue. For Korea and Europe to be linked by a railway line, Pyongyang would first have to open up its borders a little.
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According to Putin, North Korea "is ready to use foreign missile technologies in its space research projects."