• NASA head agrees to meet with Roscosmos director in Russia

    NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine has accepted the invitation from Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin to meet in Russia, the Russian state space corporation announced on its official website. 

    Bridenstine’s visit to Russia was discussed during a teleconference between the two space corporation administrators on January 14. Initially, Roscosmos did not report that the call had taken place, although this was reported by Kommersant. The Russian space corporation explained that it delayed the …

  • Lavrov: Russia will not give the Kuril Islands to Japan

    After the meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Kuril Islands are and will remain Russia’s territory.

    “The sovereignty over the islands is non-negotiable. We drew attention to the fact these islands are designated as a northern territory in Japan’s legislation, which is, of course, unacceptable,” Lavrov said. 

    He pointed out that no peace agreement can be concluded if Japan does not recognize the results of World War II. 

    “I …

  • Media: Berlin tells German companies not to respond to US Ambassador's letters threatening them with sanctions

    The German Foreign Ministry recommended that German companies BASF and Uniper refrain from responding to the letters from US Ambassador Richard Grenell which warned them of US sanctions for participating in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, reported Handelsblatt newspaper on Sunday.

    According to the newspaper’s sources, the companies asked the Foreign Ministry how to better respond to Grenell's censure. The Ministry recommended that the companies abstain from responding to …

  • Belarusian opposition urges authorities to restrict broadcasting of Russian channels

    The opposition party Belarusian Popular Front or BPF adopted a statement at a party’s meeting that demands that the authorities restrict broadcasting of Russian TV channels and replace them with programs of local production or a balanced set of foreign television programs from other countries, Interfax report.

    The BPF declared 2019 the Year of the Belarusian language, calling it "an important factor of national security" in the face of "information attacks against Belarus." “We call on all …

  • Kremlin: Russia wants no US involvement in the peace process with Japan

    The Russian Foreign Ministry opposes the inclusion of the United States in the negotiations process with Japan, said the Ministry’s official representative, Maria Zakharova on Channel Russia 1.

    “Suddenly, the third party appears again in this bilateral dialogue established thanks to political will expressed by our government. And what is interesting about it is that we hear surprising and strange statements made by Japan in the USA that Japan is waiting for the support of the USA, or even …