Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will visit Russia next week to meet with Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Radio Svoboda reported.

According to the Kremlin, Abe will arrive on May 6th and will discuss economic cooperation with Putin. The two leaders are also expected to discuss international issues.

The Japanese and Russian Foreign Ministers held talks two weeks ago.

The meeting between Abe and Putin is viewed as a step towards improving bilateral relations between Russia and Japan, which have …

Russia has committed itself to building a self-sufficient economy. Under sanctions imposed by countries around the world, they will rely on their own forces. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said this in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.

"We will now depend only on ourselves, we have all the resources for it. Thank God, the Lord and our ancestors left us a country which is self-sufficient. We will make it work so that under any circumstances we will never feel the …

Several units of Ukrainian special forces "Alpha" have been moved from the front line in eastern Ukraine to the city of Odessa.

The order to transfer the units was given by the head of the Ukrainian Security Services (SSU), Vasyl Hrytsak.

“The leadership of the SSU believes that during the May holidays there is a high probability of unrest in the city,“ Alexander Tkachuk, the  Chief of Staff of the SSU, told Ukraine 112 News Channel.

He noted that the units of the special forces "Alpha", …

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Tedros Adhanom, during an interview with Interfax, indicated that Russia has agreed to write off Ethiopia’s $160 million debt.

“During negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov this week in Moscow, it was agreed that Ethiopia’s $160 million debt will be cancelled. We agreed that these resources will best be used towards the ‘Debts in Exchange for Development’ project in Ethiopia involving Russian companies,” the Prime Minister explained. …

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius urged his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, not to create enemies, Delfi.it reported. His comment was made in response to Lavrov’s statement that Lithuania "is the most Russophobic country in the Baltic."

"I would recommend that my colleague Lavrov not create enemies, as is already the tradition," he noted.

"We respect Russian culture, we have a number of activities for which there come intellectuals, journalists, writers, and political …

The Ukrainian Samopomich party (Self-Reliance) has demanded that Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Vadym Prystaiko be immediately dismissed from his post, according to a statement published on the party’s official website.

“Prystaiko, in his interview with Golos Ameriki [Voice of America], said that Ukraine has to hold elections in the separatist territories of the Donbas this summer and that the current separatist leaders may be elected  since they ‘exert some influence over the territories’ …

On April 29th, after a meeting with the Prime Minister of Latvia, Māris Kučinskis, the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, announced the involvement of the Bundeswehr in the policy of Russian containment along the eastern borders of NATO, Deutsche Welle reported.

“I want to emphasize the fact that it is extremely important for us to operate within the NATO-Russia Agreement,” Merkel said. At the same time, she expressed her hope to intensify the dialogue between Russia and the Alliance.

“We …

A Russian Su-27 fighter has once again made a dangerous maneuver near an American spy plane in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. This was stated by the representatives of the US Department of Defense, CNN reported.

CNN said that the Russian Su-27 performed an aerobatics barrel roll (360 degrees revolution around the longitudinal axis) about 30 meters from the American plane.

According to Reuters, Pentagon spokesman Bill Urban said that such actions of the Russian fighter jet may …