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Saudi Arabia to buy 30 Ukrainian-built military airplanes
The state-owned Ukrainian aerospace company, Antonov, signed a preliminary agreement with Saudi firm Taqnia Aeronautics which will see the delivery of 30 multipurpose Antonov An-178 aircraft to the Royal Saudi Airforce.
Taqnia Aeronautics President Mohammed Al-Ghamdi said that “The signing of this memorandum is the next significant step in the development of our cooperation. We have already signed documents on the cooperation on the project of a new transport aircraft An-132 and the joint …
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Kremlin Envoy: Crimean Tatar Mejlis no longer recognized
On Saturday, Representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Oleg Belaventsev, stated that the Crimean Tatar Mejlis no longer represents the interests of the Crimean Tatar people, and has been replaced with the Crimea Interregional Civil Movement.
The Crimean Tatar Mejlis is the highest executive-representative body of the Crimean Tatars, and was officially and explicitly recognized as such by the Ukrainian Rada in March of 2014. While the Mejlis was legalized in 1999, its influence had …
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Kiev issues moratorium on payment of debt
The government of Ukraine has announced that it will not repay the $3 billion debt owed to Russia by the due date of December 20th. In addition, a $507 million commercial debt owed to several Russian banks will also be suspended.
Kiev cited Russia’s refusal to accept repayment terms already offered to other international creditors.
Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk did not specify how long the moratorium would last, but acknowledged that the Russian government would take legal action …
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Aksenov complains about Russia’s promises
The Russian Federation was slated to provide the Crimea with funds for the development of the peninsula and Sevastopol in particular until the year 2020. This assistance was pegged at 15 billion rubles per year. Close to the end of 2015, Crimea has yet to receive any of the funds from the federal program.
According to Russian news agency KrymInform, this was announced by the de-facto Prime Minister of Crimea Sergey Aksenov during a round table conference about the annexed territory and the …
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Chuck Hagel: America didn’t lead the world in supporting Ukraine
Former US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said that during the fighting with pro-Russian separatists, the US government insisted on providing the Ukrainian Armed Forces with communications and non-lethal weapons. During the most intense moments of the Russian aggression against Ukraine, the United States did not show itself as a world leader, said Hagel in an interview about foreign policy.
The former Defense Secretary said that in 2014, during meetings of the Joint Chiefs of Staff against …
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Polish deputy publishes report on war crimes in eastern Ukraine
Polish radio reported that the Deputy of the Lower Chamber of the Polish Parliament, Malgorzata Gosiewka, has published a report entitled “Russian War Crimes in Eastern Ukraine in 2014”. According to the report, in 2014 Russian soldiers and pro-Russian rebels committed numerous violations of international law, including the deprivation of freedom, physical and mental torture, robbery and murder.
The report was initiated by the Ukrainian Rada's request for the International Criminal Court to …
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OSCE mission obstructed in eastern Ukraine
On Friday, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe reported several instances in which members of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) were denied access to important investigative areas in parts of the Luhansk region not controlled by the Ukrainian government.
During a press statement on Friday, Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE’s SMM to Ukraine Alexander Hug reported that the monitoring mission has found it increasingly difficult to gain access to areas in the so-called …
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Josh Earnest: Putin’s words on Syria due to economic isolation
The economic sanctions that the West imposed against Russia over its actions in eastern Ukraine have led Russian President Vladimir Putin to seek a unified resolution to the situation in Syria, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest stated.
Speaking during his annual end-of-the-year news conference, Putin said he was convinced that Washington was prepared to "move toward settling the issues that can only be settled through joint efforts." The Russian President went on to assert that the …
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Russian Air Force violated Estonian airspace
Tallinn has accused Russia of violating its airspace. According to the country's Defense Ministry, a Russian Antonov An-72 military transport plane breached Estonian airspace for less than a minute on Thursday. The incident occured near Vaindloo island, off the country’s northern coast on the Baltic Sea.
According the its flight plan, the An-72 was supposed to stay in international airspace, though it flew over Estonian territory without attempting to contact Estonian dispatchers.
The …
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Paris Court of Appeals Delivers The Next French Slap to Russia
RIA Novosti reported that the Paris Court of Appeals refused to suspend the decision to seize French assets belonging to Yukos Oil Company. The Russian Federation recently moved to suspend enforcement of The Hague Court’s decision to confiscate the Russian property, as well as the order to pay $50 billion to the former shareholders of Mikhail Khodorkovsky’s company.
In mid-June, the courts in Belgium and France seized several Russian assets, especially the accounts of a number of companies and …