Putin dumps Kyoto protocol. Koizumi glad he didn't have to.

President Putin refused on Monday to commit Russia to the Kyoto agreement, throwing its future into doubt. According to two guys who asked a bureaucrat, "to bring the agreement into force, the countries causing 55% of the world's greenhouse gas emissions have to sign up." Without Russia, the remaining participants won't be enough. The US and Australia have already dropped out, stating that they will enforce reductions only if they can meet the 55% requirement alone. Putin's fear of commitment effectively shattered the engagement, although Vlad hinted that things might be patched up if he were allowed to sign anti-environmental treaties. "At least I must be allowed look at them with other heads of state without [the EU] nagging me all the time about it," said the president after his initial speech in Moscow. Washington has repeatedly pressured the Russian to ditch the agreement so that he and Bush can go out carousing.
While some expect negotiations to continue, efforts to reunite the group are expected to fail. PM Koizumi expressed his doubts when he said, "Frankly, I was relieved to hear that Putin was breaking with us. I wanted out after Mr. Bush left, but the EU wanted so much to believe that it could work out. They named it after Kyoto to show how much they cared about us, meanwhile we were just going through the motions waiting for a time to break the news gently. When Europe called up weeping about Russia and how we should just call the whole thing off, I was afraid my voice sounded too happy. In the end, no one picked up on it, and things worked out perfectly."
Foreign ministry officials are looking forward to a barrage of new treaties with countries calling everyday to console Japan and comment on Russia's drinking, abuse, and frigid nature. "We can get with any international agreement we want to now. Maybe something like a land-mine treaty. Hell, we could get with NAFTA if we wanted to."