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Sevastopol Catholics attend Christmas Eve service in the rain outside closed doors of a Catholic church
A Catholic worshiper community in the name of Saint Clement of Rome in Sevastopol, the Crimean peninsula annexed from Ukraine, held a Christmas church service on December 24. Approximately one hundred church-goers attended the service ministered at the closed doors of a Catholic church at Ushakova square.
The worshipers stood under the rain and mostly in the darkness due to absence of proper lighting, according to a reporter from Krym Realii online. Father Anatoly, the priest who ministered …
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Former Chancellor of Germany Schroder: lifting sanctions may be a step towards rapprochement with Russia
Former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder said that rapprochement between Russia and Germany is impossible without Vladimir Putin.
"Managing Russia is not an easy task. Rather, [Germany] must proceed from the fact that it will not be better after Putin. A step towards rapprochement could lead to the gradual lifting of reciprocal sanctions," Schröder told the Rheinische Post.
In addition, he commented on his chairmanship of the Rosneft Board of Directors, which became public in September. …
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Russian Court: Siemens was not deceived in turbines deal
The Moscow Arbitration Court did not invalidate the deal on the supply of Siemens turbines to Rostec's subsidiary Technopromexport, RIA Novosti reports. The publication notes that the German concern was unable to prove fraud in the case of shipment of its turbines to the Crimea.
"In violation of the provisions of Article 65 of the Arbitration Procedure Code of the Russian Federation, the plaintiffs on the initial lawsuit did not prove that plaintiff-2 [the Siemens plant producing turbines-Ed.] …
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US Special Representative for Ukraine: Russia motivated only by sanctions
In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa, US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker called the outgoing year the most violent since the beginning of the conflict in the Donbas, saying that sanctions against the Russian Federation should continue.
In addition, Volker called the impression that the crisis in eastern Ukraine was over "absolutely mistaken".
"The year 2017 was the most violent year. The number of violations of the ceasefire has increased, the number of dead …
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Putin: Russia’s economic growth will outpace the world
Speaking at a rally of the ruling party, United Russia, President of Russia Vladimir Putin stated that the Russian economy will grow faster than the world economy.
“Economic crises and foreign restrictions prevented us from achieving the task of our economy surpassing the world economy in terms of growth. But we must do this. And we will do this,” the President promised. Putin also said that he expected Russia to bridge the gap between it and the world’s leading countries in terms of GDP per …