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Russia and the Kyoto Protocol: a misleading ratification After the withdrawal of the US from the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, the fate of the treaty was entirely in the hands of the Russian Federation. Russia used its pivotal position as a tool for seeking political advantage and tangible incentives. This paper examines the internal forces in Russia both for and against ratification and presents some key players in the controversy. Now, with the entry into force of the Kyoto Protocol, it has become clear that Russia will fulfil its commitments in terms of stabilization of the level of emissions at no cost, that Russia has no public energy policy to address climate change and that Russia is not ready to take advantage of its involvement in the global regime. This is mainly due to the lack of a legal institutional framework for domestic implementation of the treaty. In the Russian context, these difficulties are related to the struggle for control over the energy sector and to the competition for the control over natural resources between the federal authorities and the elites in the regions.