Ukraine’s Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Rivaras Abromavičius, has resigned from office. Speaking at a press conference, the Minister indicated his decision was motivated by the increased opposition to his ongoing reforms.

“My team and I have no desire to be a cover for obvious corruption or controlled puppets for those who want to gain control of public money, as was the way with past authorities,” Abromavičius stated. He referenced a Deputy of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Igor …

The Committee on EU Affairs of the German Bundestag is concerned over the process of reforms in Ukraine. The members of the delegation of the German Parliament stated this on the 2nd of February at a press conference in Kiev after a number of meetings with representatives of the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian government and other non-governmental organizations.

“We recognize the progress of Ukraine in the process of making reforms. Many laws were adopted but now they should be brought to life. …

The European Commission intends to obtain access to all agreements on commercial gas supplies to the European Union countries, as reported by Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung on the 3rd of February, referring to draft documents that they received. Next week the European Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, Miguel Arias Cañete, is planning to formally present this proposal.

According to the prepared documents, businesses involved in supplying gas will be required to report all contract …

The official representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Maria Zakharova, said in a radio interview with Govorit Moskva that the statements made by the UK about the destructive role of Russia in the Syrian conflict were “dangerous injections of disinformation”. The Secretary of the State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Philip Hammond Hammond, recently expressed the view that the actions of the Russian Air Force have worsened the internal conflict in Syria, …

On Tuesday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a telephone conference with President Vladimir Putin, as reported on the website of the Government of Germany.  “The conversation mostly focused on the status of the implementation of the Minsk Agreements.  Merkel had also discussed this topic the previous day with Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko, in Berlin,” the statement continued.

Merkel made it clear to Putin that the Russian government must observe the ceasefire on Ukraine’s eastern …

The Kremlin doesn’t plan to comment on the last Instagram post made by Ramzan Kadyrov, the head of Chechnya. The President’s press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, said that he was not going to comment on those matters, as reported by Interfax.

"I do not intend to make any comments," said Peskov when answering journalists’ questions as to whether he planned to comment on the posting made by Kadyrov.

Earlier Peskov promised journalists he would show Kadyrov’s postings on Instagram and give comments …

In 2015, the Russian-Ukrainian border was equipped with 230 km of anti-tank ditches in the Kharkiv and Chernihiv regions.  This was noted in the government’s program performance report in 2015, which was sent to the Verkhovna Rada.

“Taking into account the priorities of the development of the Russian-Ukrainian border, the regions of Chernihiv and Kharkiv were equipped with 230 km of anti-tank ditches,” the report states.

It is also reported that a 72 km long metal barrier fence was …

American actor Leonardo DiCaprio has preliminarily agreed to perform the title role in a film about the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin, which is expected to be released in the spring of 2017, as reported by Dozhd, citing sources from the film company Knightsbridge Entertainment.

According to the company, work on the film about Putin began last year and now the final draft of the script is being approved. Several Hollywood celebrities have been approached to appear in the film. Dozhd was …