• Putin: Russia and Japan will continue negotiations on the Kuril Islands

    Russia and Japan will continue negotiations on the peace treaty, stated Russian President Vladimir Putin and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe at the press-conference following the bilateral meeting in Moscow, the Russian service of Radio Svoboda reports.

    According to Putin, both parties are interested in the signing of the document. Putin said that the conditions of the peace treaty should be acceptable for both countries and supported by society. The Russian President noted that Moscow will …

  • Russian Tu-22M3 bomber crashes near Murmansk

    A Tu-22M3 bomber crashed while attempting to land at a military airfield in the Murmansk region of Russia, TASS  reported, citing a source in law enforcement agencies .

    "The Tu-22M3 crashed at 1:40 p.m. MSK [on Monday] while landing at the airport of the long-range aviation regiment of Olenegorsk,” the source told the agency. "According to preliminary information, the commander and navigator survived... The crew of this aircraft consists of four people: the commander, assistant commander, …

  • Ukraine prepared to extend gas transit agreement with Russia under European rules

    Andriy Kobolyev, CEO of Ukraine’s national oil and gas company Naftogaz, said in a press conference after trilateral negotiations in Brussels that the company is willing to extend the current agreements to transit Russian gas through Ukraine after 2019 if they comply with European regulations.

    “Naftogaz is willing to consider future agreements only if they completely abide by the European legislation that has been implemented in Ukraine,” Kobolyev said.

    He added that Naftogaz is open to all …

  • Putin asks Abe for investments during Kuril handover negotiations

    Russia hopes to expand its investment and technological collaboration with Japan, said Russian President Vladimir Putin following negotiations with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe in Moscow.

    After the leaders’ meeting in the Kremlin, to which Abe had come “fully resolved” to deal with the matter of the peace treaty – which has been left hanging for more than 50 years due to the territorial dispute surrounding the Kuril islands – Putin bemoaned the small amount of Japanese investments in …

  • Russia plans to send observers to presidential elections in Ukraine

    Russian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Grushko stated in an interview with TASS that Russia will send its observers to the presidential elections in Ukraine on March 31 as part of the OSCE mission.

    “Yes, we plan to send our observers and take part in the mission in accordance with all OSCE criteria,” he said. Grushko explained that Ukraine has no right to refuse to register observers. “Ukraine is a member of the OSCE. So, we act from the fact that Kyiv’s obligations, taken by …