• Italy agrees to maintain sanctions on Russia until Minsk agreements are implemented

    According to Ukraine’s presidential press service, during a meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Italy promised to maintain sanctions against Russia if Moscow does not implement the Minsk Agreements. Poroshenko and Renzi agreed that it is important now to remain united in supporting Ukraine.

    The Regional Council of Lombardy, a province in northern Italy, has passed a resolution calling for lifting the anti-Russian sanctions and …

  • Gorbachev accuses NATO of preparing an attack on Russia

    In an interview with Interfax, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev shared concerns that NATO made a step towards preparations for war, and called on Russia to immediately resume the dialogue with the Alliance that was lost.

    Commenting on the results of the NATO summit in Warsaw on Saturday, July 9, Gorbachev said that "NATO has begun preparations for the escalation of the Cold War into the hot one." He believes that though the Alliance "only talks about defense” it is in reality “preparing …

  • Obama: There cannot be 'business as usual' with Russia until Minsk agreements are implemented

    Speaking at the NATO Summit in Warsaw on Saturday, US President Barack Obama said that relations with Moscow cannot normalize until Russia implements the Minsk agreements, Radio Svoboda reported.

    “Our 28 nations [NATO] are united in our view that there can be no business as usual with Russia until it fully implements its Minsk obligations,” Obama said.

    At his first NATO summit in 2009, Obama stressed that one of the Alliance’s main goals should the pursuit of “a constructive relationship with …

  • Russia expels two US diplomats

    The Russian Foreign Ministry announced the expulsion of two employees from the US Embassy in Moscow, identified as CIA agents. The Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said this on Saturday, July 9. According to him, it’s a response to the US having reported the expulsion of two Russian officials from the US the day before.

    Ryabkov added that the two US Embassy employees have been declared persona non grata.

    Moscow called these diplomats CIA agents.

    Earlier on July 8, the US …

  • Almost half the population of Finland supports holding a referendum on joining NATO

    According to a survey conducted by Taloustutkimus market research company, almost half of residents of Finland support holding a referendum on joining NATO, Finish news portal, Yle reported. 48% of residents stated that they want a national referendum and 40% of respondents expressed their opposition. Mostly people over 65 years old supported the referendum. The opponents of the referendum, as a rule, were aged 35–49 years.

    At the same time, media surveys, conducted jointly by the newspaper …