• Bulgaria discovers scheme to withdraw money from Venezuela

    The Bulgarian government has uncovered a scheme to illegally withdraw funds from Venezuela, Bulgarian local media reported, citing a statement by the country’s Prosecutor General, Sotir Tsatsarov. 

    According to Tsatsarov, millions of euros belonging to the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA have been transferred to bank accounts in Bulgaria. PDVSA is currently under US sanctions. 

    Bulgaria is exchanging information with the US about these suspicious transfers, Tsatsarov noted, adding …

  • Kyiv: Ukraine satisfied with EU policy changes concerning Nord Stream 2

     The EU’s coordinated amendments to its Gas Directive establish a legal framework for the Nord Stream 2 project to function in accordance with EU standards, but do not reduce the security risks, and could make Russia’s behavior even more aggressive, wrote Olena Zerkal, Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister for European Integration, on Facebook. 

    “First and foremost, EU law will extend to gas pipelines from third countries, including Nord Stream 2. This was and remains the key provision of the …

  • Kremlin: Russia to send election observers to Ukraine on voting day

    Russia intends to send observers to monitor Ukraine’s upcoming presidential elections directly on voting day – 31 March – as part of the OSCE’s international observation mission, the Russian Foreign Ministry reported. 

    The department claims to have received a circular request on 12 February from the OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) to send short-term observers to the Ukrainian presidential elections. 

    “Russia intends to use its right to participate in the …

  • US Secretary of State calls Lavrov to inform about new sanctions against Russia

    US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which he announced Washington’s intention to impose additional sanctions against the Russian Federation, reported the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

    “In connection with the US Secretary of State’s intention to impose additional sanctions on Russia under the absolutely unproven excuse of last year’s turbid story of the alleged “poisoning” of S.B. Skripal and his …

  • US senators propose ‘Azov sanctions’ bill against Russia

    On Wednesday, a group of US senators put forward a bill that envisages additional sanctions against Russia in response to “Russian interference in the operation of democratic institutes abroad” and for its aggression in Ukraine. 

    According to a statement published by the Senate’s foreign affairs committee, the document was authored by republicans Lindsey Graham and Cory Gardner and democrats Bob Menendez, Ben Cardin and Jeanne Shaheen. 

    The list of sanctions proposed by the senators has two …