On the 14th of April, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that the Kremlin has found a company-contractor that agreed to undertake the construction of a Crimean bridge, albeit with great difficulty. “I have to honestly say that usually there are a lot of companies interested in such projects. In this case, we had great difficulties finding a company that agreed to implement the project,” Putin said during a phone interview.

According to Russian media, LLC Stroygazmontazh will build the …

In annexed by Russia Crimea, repressions against Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars continue. This is stated in the report on the results of the visit of the mission of the Council of Europe to the peninsula, which happened during the last week of January.

During the visit, the delegation "met with numerous representatives of civil society, non-governmental organizations, religious communities, national minorities, including the Crimean Tatars, as well as members of the media and local authorities." …

If Ukraine applies for NATO membership after carrying out the relevant reforms, its application will be properly reviewed, as stated by the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Oleksandr Vershbow, in an exclusive interview with the news agency UKRINFORM in the framework of Kyiv Security Forum.

"We certainly respect the right of Ukraine to apply for membership and if, after these reforms are successfully implemented, the Ukrainian people will decide to take this step, we have the necessary …

The USA accused Russia of suppressing dissent and the oppression of the Crimean Tatars and pro-Ukrainian activists in annexed Crimea as was stated in the Annual Report on Human Rights Standards, published on the website of the US State Department on Wednesday, 13 April.

Russian authorities have deprived Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars "the ability to express support for their nationality and ethnic origin" and "have systematically suppressed and discriminated against them," as stated by the US …

The newly appointed Prime Minister of Ukraine, Vladimir Groisman, said that his government will increase attention on the issue of the return of annexed by Russia Crimea under the control of Ukraine.

"Another issue that the new government will pay extra attention to is a complexity of problems related to the return of Crimea and the temporarily occupied areas of Donbas, the restoration of peaceful life on the liberated territories and the return of displaced persons," Groisman said.

According …

On Thursday, April 14th, agents of the Moscow Department of Combating Economic Crimes raided the Central Office of the Russian Division of IKEA on the Leningrad highway, Interfax reported. The employees of IKEA consider what was happening as part of a campaign to seize the land. Earlier a criminal case was mounted against IKEA with the charge of large-scale swindling.

Company lawyer Semen Shevchenko stated that "We perceive what is happening as a part of the campaign to seize the land on which …

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin supports the Russian Defense Ministry’s position on the incident earlier this week in which Russian Su-24 aircraft buzzed a US naval destroyer in the Baltic Sea, Eko Moskva reported.

The Russian Defense Ministry and the Kremlin maintain that the Su-24s flew over international waters and observed all safety precautions.  "The principle of freedom of navigation for the US destroyer, which is staying in …

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) stated that there are "threats and use of force against the observers" in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine, according to the joint statement made by the Foreign Ministers of Germany, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Serbia, Ivica Dačićта and Sebastia Kurz from Austria, which was published on the organization’s website on Tuesday, April 12th. Germany currently chairs the organization previously chaired by the Serbian representative; the …