In a television interview, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin outlined the strategy to return Crimea to Ukraine, stating that the plan consists of three basic parts: political, diplomatic and informational. 

According to Klimkin, the first phase of the plan consists of the political and diplomatic elements, and includes western countries providing support to Ukraine.  It also involves gaining support of the non-recognition policy of Crimea’s occupation, as well supporting sanctions …

Five employees of the pro-democracy organization Open Russia were detained on Friday night. According to the advocacy group’s human rights manager, Pauline Nemirovskaya, the two vehicle carrying the employees were pulled over by Moscow police shortly after leaving the office.

Dozhd reported that police officers declared that the cars were wanted, and six people (five employees and one driver) were taken to the Basmanny police station.

Shortly after, lawyer Sergei Badamshin attempted to enter …

Russian company Gazprom, Italian company Edison and Greek company DEPA have signed an agreement to transport gas from Russia to Europe via a route under the Black Sea, as stated in a press release by Gazprom.

The Russian company emphasized that the parties were interested in natural gas supply routes from Russia to Greece, as well as from Greece to Italy.  The results of work carried out by Edison and DEPA under the ITGI Poseidon project will be used “to the fullest extent” for these purposes. …

The offices of Open Russia in St. Petersburg were evacuated during the presentation of Ilya Yashin, the Deputy Chairman of the People’s Freedom Party (PARNAS).  Yashin was presenting his report, “The threat to national security”, which detailed the situation in Chechnya and the life of its leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.  This was reported to Dozhd on the 25th of February by the co-chair of PARNAS' St. Petersburg division, Natalia Gryaznevich.

Yashin had already presented the report and was in the …

The European Union expects full implementation of two out of five commitments in the so-called “visa-free” package from Kiev. 

A European diplomat said this to the correspondent of UKRINFORM in Brussels, commenting on the package of "visa-free" legislation approved by the Verkhovna Rada last week.

"Yes, indeed, there are still two important questions left: the National Anti-Corruption Agency and the law on electronic declarations," the diplomat said.

At the same time, he believes that the …

Azerbaijan demands that the Kremlin provide assurance that weapons supplied to Armenia won't be located in Nagorno-Karabakh.

The Azerbaijani authorities handed over a note of protest to Russia in connection with the arms deal signed between Moscow and Yerevan, according to a report by BBC Ukraine, with reference to the official representative of the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hikmet Hajiyev.

"Weapons acquired by Yerevan are usually situated in the separatist region of Azerbaijan, …

Ukraine and the US have signed a $100 million investment agreement for the construction of a gain terminal in Odessa.  The signing ceremony was held in the presence of US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt and Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, as reported by Gordon.

According to Pyatt, the construction of the new grain terminal in the Yuzhny Port in Odessa will increase Ukraine’s export opportunities and create hundreds of jobs. 

“I want to congratulate the American and Ukrainian …

NATO intends to supply Ukraine with equipment to be used in the clearing of land mines in the Donbas region.  This was reported by the Acting Head of the Mission of Ukraine to NATO, Yehor Bozhok, during the workshop entitled "Research challenges in the field of border security of Ukraine".

“Ukraine will receive the demining equipment in the spring.  It will be ready by the beginning of the so-called season of clearance, which is in May,” Bozhok explained.  According to him, the need for this …