• Germany's Economic Minister looks forward to Russia's return to the G8

    Germany’s Vice-Chancellor and Minister for Economic Affairs and Energy, Sigmar Gabriel, hopes to restore an atmosphere of trust and open dialogue with Moscow. According to Deutsche Welle, he said this during an interview with the Russlandkontrovers website.

    According to Gabriel, Russia is still the main partner of Germany.

    “The strength of German-Russian relations lies in overcoming critical situations and, even in a difficult period, continuing to cooperate,” he added.

    Gabriel also …

  • Russia says construction of new military facility is meant to defend the country from Ukraine

    A Russian diplomat believes that "a time of war is beginning to prevail in our country again" but Putin and his associates "don’t want it to prevail."

    Alexander Surikov, Russia's Ambassador to Belarus, stated that a new Russian military facility in Klintsy is allegedly needed to be able to defend themselves from an attack by Ukraine.

    "What does that have to do with Belarus? As far as I understand, we have a problem with the Minsk Agreements. Radicalism in Ukraine is intensifying again. More …

  • Czech Foreign Minister: Putin uses a divide-and-conquer strategy in Europe

    The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, Lubomír Zaorálek, stated in an interview with the Financial Times that the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, uses a divide-and-conquer strategy, supporting right-wing populists in Europe. According to him, nationalist and Euro-skeptical movements serve a vital role in Putin’s strategy to weaken Europe.

    “This issue is regularly discussed. We have no doubt that Russia is exploring ways for funding this work,” Zaorálek noted. “Russia uses …

  • Bulgarian President: Russia is trying to destroy the foundations of the EU

    Russia is trying to destroy the foundations of the European Union, as stated by the President of Bulgaria, Rosen Plevneliev, on Wednesday, June 8th speaking in the European Parliament, EurActiv reports.

    According to him, the crisis in Ukraine shows that Russia "does not support the principles of international order. The Kremlin is trying to destabilize the situation in the EU. He tries to destroy and bring down the foundations of the European Union, such as unity, solidarity and the rule of …

  • US: Separatists are trying to 'blind' OSCE observers in the Donbas

    The U.S. Representative to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Daniel Baer, stated during an OSCE Permanent Council meeting that the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine has been subjected to a deliberate attempt to ‘blind’ it by blocking or destroying the Mission’s means of surveillance in the Donbas.

    “Within one week, militia forces shot down two of the SMM’s long endurance UAVs near Horlivka and threatened to shoot down the other UAVs which were looking for the …

  • Financial Times: EU sanctions against the Kremlin will be extended for another six months

    European Union (EU) countries, who support sanctions against Russia, have postponed discussions about their demands until the EU leaders summit in December. This was reported by the Financial Times, citing sources in Brussels.

    In addition, and despite signs of some bloc countries softening their attitudes, the EU intends to extend sanctions against Russia for another six months.

    The newspaper reports that diplomats fear that this extension may, over the next two weeks, trigger disputes …

  • Pentagon: Russia would be able to capture Riga or Tallinn in 60 hours

    The Pentagon has agreed with analysts’ views that Russia could capture Riga or Tallinn in less than three days. This was reported by the Weekly Standard.

    The Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense, Michael Carpenter, has agreed with a report of RAND research center which states that Russian troops would be able to seize the city of Riga in 60 hours or less.

    “NATO would have a few options for further action, of which none are good. These options include an offensive action, which is associated …

  • Russia holds military exercises in the Black Sea

    The Russian Federation is conducting military exercises aimed at the conditional destruction of NATO ships in the Black Sea, as announced by a representative of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s Main Intelligence Directorate during a briefing on Thursday, June 9th, as reported by RBC-Ukraine.

    "The Russian Federation continues activities to increase the ability of the aerospace forces to conduct large-scale offensive operations in the Black Sea region," Skibitsky said. He added that the purpose …

  • Russian Foreign Ministry: The presence of US warships in the Black Sea will lead to retaliation

    The head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's European Cooperation Department, Andrey Kelin, said that the presence of US warships in the Black Sea will lead to retaliation, RIA Novosti reported.

    "From time to time, US vessels enter the Black Sea. Obviously, we do not appreciate it and, undoubtedly, this will lead to retaliatory measures," Andrei Kelin told the Russian state-run news agency.

    On June 6th, a US Naval destroyer, the USS Porter, entered the Black Sea to conduct exercises with …

  • European Commission President to meet with Putin in Russia

    European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin next week during an economic forum in St. Petersburg, as reported by Reuters with reference to an EU spokeswoman.

    Juncker will attend the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Thursday and Friday of next week and will hold his first meeting with Putin since November of 2014.

    The EC President has called for further cooperation with Russia and said in October that the EU’s stance towards …