-
Russian Media: German Foreign Minister calls for friendship with Russia despite annexation of Crimea
German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is convinced that, despite the European Union's position on the annexation of the Crimea, Russia and Europe need to stabilize relations.
He said this at the 10th Russian-German Raw Material Conference that took place in St. Petersburg, Interfax reports.
"The annexation of the Crimea is a step that is contrary to international law. However, we are all responsible for peace and stability in Europe. Our relations should not develop in a spiral of distrust, …
-
Montenegro suspects Kadyrov of involvement in an attempted coup
Montenegrin prosecutors suspect that the head of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, campaigned for the leaders of the Montenegrin Muslim community to cooperate with the pro-Russian Democratic Front party, which, in their opinion, should lead to a change of power in the country, reported the Russian publication Izvestia.
Podgorica believes that a criminal group including Russian nationalists planned a coup involving the assassination of Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic during the parliamentary elections …
-
Russian Parliament proposes fining media foreign agents $86,000
A bill has been presented in the Russian State Duma which would introduce fines for violations permitted by foreign media outlets that are identified as foreign agents. The maximum punishment is a fine of 5 million rubles (roughly $86,000).
The bill was placed on the State Duma’s website.
The bill was put forward by Andrey Klishas, head of the Federation Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State-Building, and Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Civil Criminal …
-
Media: Turkey exchanged Crimean Tatar leaders Chiygoz and Umerov for two Russian agents
The Turkish government has exchanged Akhtem Chiygoz, deputy head of the Crimean Tatar people’s Mejlis, and Ilmi Umerov for two Russians accused of espionage, as announced on the Turkish TV channel Haberturk with reference to court documents.
The Russians Alexander Smirnov and Yury Anisimov were arrested in Turkey in April 2016. They were accused of planning the murder of Chechen dissidents and have been in custody until recently.
On October 25, the Russian authorities handed Umerov and …
-
Russia refuses to return medals of athletes accused of doping
The Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation declared that skiers and bobsledders who were disqualified from the Olympics and stripped of their 2014 Olympic Medals are not going to return the medals and will ask the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne to consider their lawsuits before the 2018 Olympics, reported Interfax, citing a source in the Russian Ministry of Sport.
“The Bobsled Federation of Russia and the Cross-Country Ski Federation of Russian are ready to appeal to the …