Few things invite Kremlin-watching like the unexplained absence of a senior official. And Sergei Lavrov's no-show from a key Kremlin meeting last week has inevitably set off speculation about what may be shifting behind the scenes. Veteran foreign minister Lavrov, 75, was the only permanent member of the security council missing from last Tuesday's session, during which Vladimir Putin instructed officials to draw up proposals on the possible resumption of nuclear weapons testing an absence the well-connected Kommersant newspaper said was agreed in advance.