• US Secretary of State to meet with Putin in Moscow

    US Secretary of State, John Kerry, will visit Moscow next week to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin. He said this on Tuesday, March 15, 2016, Reuters reported.

    The purpose of his visit will be to discuss further settlements of the conflict in Syria. However, he stressed that the world has received the best opportunity to end the conflict in Syria with the withdrawal of the Russian Forces.

    In turn, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia confirmed the possibility of the US Secretary …

  • Estonia urges the EU to implement an entry ban on those involved in the Savchenko case

    The Estonian Parliament wants the European Union to ban entry to the Russian officials responsible for the arrest, detention and unlawful condemnation of Nadiya Savchenko. This is reported in the statement taken during the meeting of the Estonian Parliament on the 15th of March, 2016.

    "The Parliament calls to ban the officials of the Russian Federation responsible for the detention, imprisonment and illegal trial of Savchenko from entering into the territory of the European Union", a statement …

  • Brussels warns EU banks against placing Russian Eurobonds

    The European Union fears that income from the Eurobonds will be received by Russians who are subject to sanctions. Earlier, a similar warning was issued by the White House.

    The European Union appealed to European banks to discourage them from placing Russian Eurobonds as reported in the Financial Times on Monday, March 15th. According to European experts, money raised from the placement of these Eurobonds could be used by Russia "for other purposes," including as a source income for …

  • Ukrainian lawmakers approve draft on combating corruption

    Ukrainian lawmakers approved draft legislation aimed at combating corruption by imposing control over the assets of senior and junior level officials and their families.

    Under legislation passed on March 15th, these officials are required to file electronic asset declarations and will be held criminally responsible for inaccurate or misleading information.

    The data will be available on the web for monitoring purposes.

    The European Union is putting pressure on Ukraine to implement anti- …

  • US expert calls for new sanctions against Russia during Senate hearings

    Ukrinform reported on Ian Brzezinski’s remarks during recent hearings in the US Senate. Brzezinski, the Senior Fellow in the International Security Program on the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group, said that the acting sanctions against Russia weren’t sufficient to make them cease aggression against Ukraine. He added that was reason enough for the West to impose additional restrictions against whole sectors of Russian economy, instead of simply extending them.

    “The West should get to …

  • Obama urges Putin to release Nadiya Savchenko

    During a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 14th, US President Barack Obama urged the Russian leader to release Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, Interfax reported.

    The news agency quoted the press secretary of the US Embassy in Moscow, Will Stevens.

    "President Obama also urged President Putin to release detained pilot and parliamentarian Nadiya Savchenko in accordance with the Minsk commitment to release all unlawfully detained persons," Stevens said. …

  • Operation in Syria could cost Russia up to $535 million

    According to the RBC media outlet, Russia could spend at least 38 billion rubles or up to $535 million on the military operation in Syria. Since the beginning of the campaign its costs could have grown by almost half.Costs per dayDuring Russia's 167-day military campaign in Syria the daily cost of operations could have grown by almost 50%, RBC estimates, basing its calculation on the data that was revealed by the Defense Ministry and the experts' evaluations.At the end of October 2015 the cost …

  • Dzhemilev: Turkey didn't impose sanctions against Russia until later in an attempt to protect Crimean Tatars

    The Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Mustafa Dzhemilev, stated in his interview with Radio Svoboda that Turkey joined the sanctions imposed against Russia for the annexation of Crimea only after the deterioration of their relationship with the Russian Federation. Prior to that, Turkey hadn’t joined the group of countries that impose sanctions against Russia.

    According to Dzhemilev, officials in Ankara believed the Turkish leader would be more powerful and better able to …

  • US State Department calls on Russia to implement Minsk Agreements and release Nadiya Savchenko

    According to Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs at the United States Department of State, Washington demands that Russia fulfill the requirements of the Minsk Agreements. The Assistant Secretary also called on Moscow to release Nadiya Savchenko.

    The US administration intends to uphold sanctions against Russia that were imposed due to the annexation of Crimea, stated Nuland on Tuesday, March 15th. "We will continue to cooperate with Ukraine on the …

  • Savchenko wins Jan Karski Eagle Award

    Nadiya Savchenko has become the winner of prestigious Polish Jan Karski Award. Savchenko was given the award for her tempered heart in the fight for human dignity and pride, Radio Poland reported.

    By Savchenko’s conduct in the face of trumped up charges, she provides a shining example of a person who can be deprived of life but can’t be broken. “Currently, Savchenko is on a hunger strike,” the jury of the award reported. Jan Karski established the Jan Karski Eagle Award in 2000, not long …