The Speaker of the Russian State Duma, Sergey Naryshkin, invited the leading European countries to punish Kiev for their failure to comply with the Minsk Agreements, as reported by the Russian media on Tuesday, January 19th.

At the opening of the spring session of the State Duma, Naryshkin stated that "the position of France and Germany, presiding over the OSCE this year, will become completely constructive and objective.  The advocates of extending anti-Russian sanctions will realize that …

According to the German-Russian Chamber of Commerce report released on January 20th, the number of German companies, together with their branches and representative offices, was reduced by 7% in Russia last year.

According to the Federal Tax Service of the Russian Federation, six thousand companies with German capital were registered in Russia in 2014. However, in 2015, their number dropped to 5583, more than 400 fewer than the previous year.

Meanwhile, the number of legal entities with …

The United States Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter expressed the view that Russia is pursuing the wrong course in Syria. After meeting with the US’s key allies in Paris on January20th, Carter stated that Russians make strategic mistakes as well as tactical ones. “That’s why we don’t have a basis for greater cooperation with Moscow,” Carter noted.

The Defense Secretary promised to destroy powerful centers of Islamic State. He likened it to a cancer that will be defeated by destroying its two …

In the coming weeks, NATO hopes to resume dialogue with Russia, which was frozen because of the conflict in eastern Ukraine since July 2014. Diplomats in Brussels stated on January 20th that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization expects negotiations at the ambassadorial level within the NATO-Russia Council to take place sometime between the end of February and the beginning of March, if Moscow is amenable.

One of the diplomats said that NATO wished to put a discussion on the conflict in …

Ukraine has developed an information campaign to convince the citizens of the Netherlands to support the ratification of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU during a referendum scheduled for April of this year.

Dmitry Kuleba, the Ambassador at Large for the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, provided some details of the plan at a briefing in UCMC (Ukrainian Crisis Media Center).

Commenting on Ukraine's preparations for the campaign, he stated it was aimed at gaining a …

Ukraine started negotiations with several Gulf countries to launch a new freight traffic route as announced by the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure, Vladimir Yemelyan, reports Specter Novosti.

"We are now in the middle of negotiations with the Gulf countries concerning the coordination of railway communication to this area. In particular, on January 12th, the leaders of the railway companies were studying this route and at first glance believe it has great promise. I think it will be another …

The Commission of UNESCO experts may consider removing the Kremlin from the list of UNESCO World Heritage sites. Der Tagesspiegel reported on January 19th that such a decision was prompted by the plans of Russian authorities to construct a 24-meter monument to Grand Duke Vladimirat on Borovitskaya Square near Kremlin. The Grand Duke was a historical figure who chose Orthodox Christianity as the state religion of Kievan Rus.

According to UNESCO experts, the monument, rising high above the …

Amnesty International is urging the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, "to show the political will and make all necessary preparations for Ukraine to ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as soon as possible," as stated in an open letter to the President of Ukraine.

"Please note that only after the ratification of the Rome Statute will Ukraine receive all the benefits from participation in the ICC: participation in the election of judges and prosecutors, …