Contents tagged with Europe

  • Ukrainian general proposes to seize part of Russia in the event of its collapse

    The former deputy chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant-General Ihor Romanenko, in response to a reader's question on the Glavred news website, stated that Russia could lose some of its territories, and Kyiv "should seize" this opportunity.

    Romanenko was asked if, in his opinion, Russia could lose some of its territories, in particular, Siberia.

    “This is a real and very serious threat. Russia not only could lose Siberia, but it can also collapse altogether, “ …

  • Poland plans to abandon post-Soviet military aircraft

    President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, stated that Poland wants to abandon the post-Soviet era military aircraft and buy the latest, fifth-generation military equipment, in particular, American F-35 aircraft, reports Ukrinform.

    “We would like Polish aviation to completely abandon the post-Soviet aircraft, and to be able to fly the best aircraft in the world,” said Duda. He expressed hope that Poland would be able to buy American F-35 aircraft.

    “This is a very ambitious and expensive program. We …

  • Russia prepares 500 thousand forms to issue passports in LPR and the DPR

    Five thousand forms have already been prepared for the distribution of Russian passports to residents of the occupied areas of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of Ukraine, reports LB.ua in the article “Operation passportization”: the motivation behind Kremlin distribution of Russian citizenships to residents of the LPR and the DPR”.

    “According to LB.ua sources in law enforcement agencies, the estimated number of forms appears to be 500 thousand. Local security officials (“siloviki”) were told …

  • Estonian President meets with Putin

    Estonian President Kersti Kaljulaid, who arrived in Moscow for the opening ceremony of the Estonian Embassy in Moscow after its renovations, met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday, April 18. They discussed bilateral relations, the situation in Ukraine and Georgia. “At the same time, of course, I proceeded from the position of the European Union,” stressed Kersti Kaljulaid.

    Speaking about the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, the Estonian president noted that she supports the sanctions. …

  • Putin says he was not invited to the Normandy Four meeting in June

     Russian President, Vladimir Putin, said that nobody discussed the possibility of holding Normandy Four format leaders meeting in June with the Russian side, and there are no such negotiations in his working schedule, reports TASS.

    “I don’t know anything about this. Nobody discussed it with us. There is no such meeting in my work schedule,” said Putin commenting on the Petro Poroshenko's statement about his plans to meet the leaders of the Norman Four in June.

    Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry …

  • Russian Gazprom ramps up gas transit through Ukraine by 25%

    The Russian company Gazprom has recently increased the volume of gas it is transporting to Europe through Ukraine by 25%, according to a Facebook post by Andriy Kobolyev, CEO of Naftogaz of Ukraine.

    “The reason for this is the renovation of the Yamal-Europe pipeline (which passes through Belarus)… annually this is the equivalent of around 110 billion cubic meters of gas per year,” he wrote.

    In a matter of days, the daily volume of gas pumped through the Ukrainian gas transport system rose by 6 …

  • Russia to dispute arbitration court verdict on Ukrnafta lawsuit

    Russia has not yet received the International Court of Arbitration’s ruling on the Ukrnafta lawsuit through the official diplomatic channels, but it plans to dispute the ruling at the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, RBC reported citing the Russian Justice Ministry.

    “The Russian Federation plans to dispute the current decision and to use all the available legal protection mechanisms provided by international law and Swiss legislation,” the ministry said in a statement.

    On 12 April, the …

  • Poroshenko: Normandy Format session possible in June

    A Normandy Format meeting may take place in June on the date commemorating the anti-Hitler coalition’s landing in Normandy, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the TV channel 112 Ukraine.

    “French President Emmanuel Macron… and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will contact Putin in May already, coordinate with the US and directly with US President Donald Trump, and, I consider it possible… that Russian President Vladimir Putin will be invited to the commemoration of the opening of the …

  • Germany's direct investments in Russia exceed 3 billion euros

    The German-Russian Chamber of Commerce is confident that companies that have knowledge of the Russian market are not afraid of "sanctions and political problems.

    On Monday, April 15, the press service of the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce, citing data from the German Federal Bank, announced that Germany’s direct investments in the Russian economy in 2018 amounted to 3.2 billion euros.

    They estimate that this is a record amount of investment since the financial crisis in 2008. Large-scale …

  • EU to spend €215 million to remove Poland's dependency on Russian gas

    The EU government has decided to allocate €215 million to the construction of the Baltic Pipe, a pipeline that will transport gas from Norwegian deposits through Denmark to Poland.

    The Polish gas operator Gaz-System will receive the funds for construction of the pipeline. The company announced on Monday that it had signed the relevant agreement with the EU’s Innovation and Networks Executive Agency (INEA).

    The financing will be used to build the underwater section of the pipe that will …