• German manufacturer of agricultural machinery signs contract with Russia at economic forum

    A manufacturer of agricultural machinery from Germany signed a special investment agreement with the Russian government at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum.

    The German CLAAS Group was the first foreign company to sign a special investment contract with Russia. The agreement was signed on Friday, June 17, at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The German company received the status of the Russian manufacturer of agricultural equipment, and its products can now qualify for the …

  • Finnish President says his country will apply for NATO membership if the security situation deteriorates

    The President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö stated in his interview with Dagens Nyheter daily that Finland will apply for membership of NATO in case the security situation deteriorates. “We can’t exclude the possibility of applying for NATO membership. It would be a serious mistake because it’s a tool of national security policy and Russia knows that we have this tool,” Niinistö noted.

    “We are developing our partnership and cooperation with NATO at this stage. If we see significant deterioration …

  • Norway is upgrading its defense capabilities due to 'unpredictable actions' of Russia

    The Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg announced that Norway has begun a large scale strengthening of its defense capability and an upgrade of the military sector for protection from unpredictable actions by the Russian Federation, Deutsche Welle reported.

    According to the proposed law that should be approved by the Parliament, Norway plans to increase its military budget by 165 billion crowns (17.5 billion Euros) during the next 20 years. Solberg said the planned upgrade is the largest …

  • NATO: It will be possible to talk about normal relations with Russia only after Ukraine's territorial integrity is restored

    The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel recently spoke about NATO’s unflagging support of Ukraine, noting that a return to normal relations with Russia won’t be possible until the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its active borders.

    “The NATO-Ukraine meeting was a constituent part of defense ministry negotiations that have recently ended. Negotiations of the same format will be held with the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw, in July,” …

  • Putin announces plan to create new economic union with China

    During his opening speech at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a new Euro-Asian Economic Union is being planned. The Union will include China as one of its members, as reported by the Russian Gazeta.ru news portal.

    “In June together with China we are planning to establish a vast Euro-Asian partnership,” Putin stated. He didn’t disclose any specific details of this partnership.

    At the same time Putin called on all Russian partners in the already …