Illarionov highlighted a "strange situation" in which, he said, Russia accounted for just six percent of global carbon dioxide emissions and yet will be obliged to reduce them, while countries such as the United Statespercent) and China (13 percent) will be unrestricted.

On Monday, Putin announced that Russia had not yet reached a decision on whether to ratify the Kyoto protocol, thereby bringing it into force, but was still weighing up the pros and cons.

He said Russia would take a decision in the light of its national interests.

"When the United States withdrew from the Kyoto protocol, (President George Bush explained his decision by saying it was too expensive for them and that Kyoto placed major restrictions on US economic growth and development. Is Russia richer than the United States?" he said.

A promise given by Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov last year that Russia would ratify the protocol was taken "before there had been any detailed analysis of all the consequences," he said.

Russia "is now analysing the protocol, its consequences and the eventual quotas market, and its decision will be made after the analysis has been completed," he said.

Meanwhile he speculated that global warming, attributed to the build-up in the atmosphere of greenhouse gases, could have beneficial effects for Russia.

"In the past few years Russia's crops have increased," he noted. "We are a Nordic country and we spend billions of dollars on heating, lighting and warm clothing. That's why a change in temperature of a half-degree or a degree has enormous consequences for the economy."

Pointing out what he saw as another contradiction, Illarionov said that "the country that could profit most from the rise in the temperature (Russia) commits itself to reducing CO2 emissions, while the countries that are closest to the Equator and which suffer the most from rising temperatures make no commitment."

European countries are strongly pressing Russia to sign the protocol so that it can enter into force and contribute to curbing global warming, which many scientists believe may have catastrophic consequences for the planet over the next century.

TERRA.WIRE