WHY am I NOT surprised?
Well, just a tad surprised it wasn't China. Some how they have something at stake here too. Both, Russia and China do not want sanctions on Iran. It's Iraq all over again ... any news on France?
Nothing recent per a quick search.
I know Russia is not our friend. What I don't understand is why. Would it not be much more to their advantage to be our friend? Other than the substantial but limited profits in selling arms and nuke technology to the third world, what do they lose?
Mrs VS
I think they are on vacation....or catering to youts in hte burbs....
"Well, just a tad surprised it wasn't China."
And you are tracking this very well, but missing the last step. It is all China, and this is misdirection.
"In what appear to have been unguarded comments, Aleksei Grigoriev, the deputy director of Russia's Federal Information Technologies Agency, told a reporter that North Korea planned to buy equipment for the safe storage and transportation of nuclear materials, developed by a Russian government-controlled defence company."
If such a person really had a "slip" of this magnitude, the result would be a an extensive, rather painful debriefing, followed by a bullet to the head.