The Russian and German Foreign Ministers, Sergey Lavrov and Frank-Walter Steinmeier, will meet to discuss the situation in Ukraine and Syria on August 15, RIA Novosti reported, with reference to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs press service. On that day, Steinmeier will visit Yekaterinburg for the opening of a Russian-German summer school in the Ural Federal University. After this event, his meeting with Lavrov will take place.

“The most relevant aspects of bilateral cooperation in the …

The import dues imposed by the Russian Federation on some agricultural and industrial goods contradict the WTO rules

The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against the Russian Federation (RF) in favor of the European Union as indicated in the published decision of the WTO, Deutsche Welle reports.

This was the first such decision since Russia’s admission to the WTO.

WTO arbitrators ascertained that the Russian import dues on some agricultural and industrial goods were contrary to the rules …

Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) have initiated new international restrictions against the development of Russian sports and industry. This was reported by Infox news portal  and Russian Nezavisimaya Gazeta newspaper.

Infox referred to a document testifying to the WWF’s active participation in the anti-Russian campaign with regard to sports. In October last year, the International Olympic Committee in Switzerland received a letter from the head of the WWF, Marco Lambertini. …

According to the official data, 20 Russian servicemen have been killed during the operation in Syria. The Russian media sources reported that Russian soldier Asker Bizhoev, from the Russian Republic of Kabardino-Balkaria, was killed in Syria, referring to the information received from the head of the Republic, Yury Kokov.

According to him, Bizhoev was posthumously awarded the Russian Order of Courage. Kokov expressed hope that the “memory of the hero will remain in the hearts of residents of …

Moscow will not grant the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission access to the Crimea, as stated by the Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation at the OSCE Alexander Lukashevich, RIA Novosti reports.

"The Crimea is a Russian territory. We had already stipulated long ago, that the mission has nothing to do with the Crimea as it is a part of the Russian Federation. But our Western colleagues interpret this to mean the whole territory of Ukraine, including the Crimea," he said.

According to …

Experts from the Ukrainian Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies stated at a press conference in Kiev that the Russian Federation has militarized the Crimea in an unprecedented fashion, and it will actively use weapons that are already based in the Crimea in the case of full-scale military actions in the territory of Ukraine.

“A very powerful group consisting of aviation and Russian Military Space Forces, cruise missile carriers, submarines and ships was gathered in the Crimea. …

South-Eastern Europe is concerned about the Russian Federation’s impending participation in military exercises that will be conducted in Serbia in September and October.

Former Ukrainian Ambassador to Croatia Markian Lubkivskyi, who is also the coordinator of Valentin Nalyvaychenko’s public movement “Justice” wrote on his blog on LB.ua that “At a time when Russia is escalating the situation with the Crimea, South-Eastern Europe is increasingly worrying. It is seriously concerned about the …

Dmitry Kalinin, a lawyer from the Russian city of Uralsk, has tried to get his taxes, which were spent by the Russian Government to support the Crimea, returned. He feels that the peninsula’s annexation is illegal. He sent an application and a demand to the Russian Ministry of Finance.

Kalinin substantiated his demands by mentioning the fact that a referendum on the possibility of the accession of a new territory has not been conducted in Russia.

The Russian Ministry of Finance responded that …