• Erdogan invites France, Germany and Russia to hold talks on Syria

    The German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron will hold talks with Russian leader Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. The meeting will be held on October 27th in Istanbul. Its central theme will be the situation in Syria, reports the Deutsche Welle.

    The parties will meet, by invitation from Erdogan, said his spokesman on Friday, October 19th. This will be the first meeting with these participants. Until now, Turkey has sought to discuss the …

  • Volker: Russia will not go on the offensive in the Donbas

    During his speech at the Atlantic Council center in Washington, the US Special Representative for Ukraine, Kurt Volker asserted that Russia would not go on the offensive in the East of Ukraine .

    The American official explained that one of the reasons that it would not be profitable for Russia to aggravate the situation is a high probability that a new spiral of tension in the east of Ukraine could foster the growth of support for Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

    "[An offensive] would …

  • Korean ambassador suggests creating a free economic zone in the Odessa region

    Korea has formulated a cooperation strategy with Ukraine which will allow increasing Ukraine's GDP to 10% over the next 10 years, said Korean ambassador Lee Yang-Goo at the tenth National Expert Forum in Odessa organized by the Gorshenin Institute.

    "We have developed a master plan for cooperation between Ukraine and Korea. In accordance with this plan, Ukraine can increase its GDP growth rate to 10% in the next 10 years. International organizations proposed various scenarios for this. This …

  • Suspected Russian spy released in Norway

    An employee of the Central Office of the Russian Federation Council, Mikhail Bochkaryov, who was recently detained in Norway on suspicion of espionage, has now been released, according to the head of the Committee of the Upper House on International Affairs, Konstantin Kosachev.

    “Yes, the Norwegian delegation in the Inter-Parliamentary Union informed us about it.  We have repeatedly discussed this problem with them,” Kosachev stated.

    On September 23, it was reported about a Russian citizen …

  • Putin believes Trump is determined to stabilize relations between USA and Russia

    On Thursday, speaking at the traditional Valdai Forum in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that US President Donald Trump is ready to listen to him and is determined to improve the relations between the two countries.

     “In my opinion, the current president [of the US] is determined to stabilize and level the relations between Russia and the US,” Putin said and added that “we will see how the situation will further develop”.

    Putin denied the accusations of Western countries …

  • Poland acquires shares of Norwegian continental shelf gas field

    The Polish Radio announced that the Norwegian subsidiary (Upstream Norway AS) of the Polish oil and gas company (PGNiG) acquired Equinor Energy AS concession shares on the Norwegian continental shelf for $ 220 million.

    PGNiG reported that the signed contract states the acquisition of a 30% stake in the PL044 concession at Equinor Energy AS, which is the equivalent of buying a 42.38% stake in the development of the Tommeliten Alpha field, operated by ConocoPhillips Norway AS.

    Tommeliten Alpha …

  • Sanctions devastate major Russian hi-tech project

    One of the largest hi-tech development projects in Russia, initiated by the government and the Security Council, has come to ruin due to sanctions.

    The Angstrem-T microchip plant, which belongs to former Communications Minister Leonid Reiman and has received $1 billion in state financing, is close to bankruptcy.

    The company, which received an €815 million credit line from Vnesheconombank (VEB) in 2008 to build a factory in Zelenograd, has not yet even begun repaying the loan. Reuters reports …

  • Russia accuses Ukraine of escalating the situation in the Donbas

    On October 18, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted a statement on the aggravated situation in Ukraine.

     In this small document in several paragraphs, Ukraine is accused of killing the leader of the so called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, tearing apart Orthodoxy, ignoring the "will of the fraternal Russian and Ukrainian peoples” in connection with the decision to terminate the Friendship Treaty and, in general, anti-Russian politics.

    “The State Duma is …

  • US offers to supply two frigates to Ukrainian Navy

    The US offered to provide the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense with military-technical assistance for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In part, the US authorities propose to strengthen the Ukrainian Navy with frigates. The appropriate letter was sent to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry through the military attaché of the US embassy, reports the Ukrainian military portal.

    It is reported that among other things the Americans are ready to transfer to Ukraine two Oliver Hazard Perry-type frigates which will …

  • Lavrov: Russia will not allow NATO ships to enter the Sea of Azov

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia would not allow NATO vessels to enter the Sea of Azov to participate in the joint exercises with Ukraine.

    “Now Ukraine wants to invite NATO to conduct joint exercises in the Sea of Azov, but this will not be possible because our agreement with Ukraine requires mutual consent for the passage of warships into the Sea of Azov,” said Lavrov in his interview with RT France, Paris Match and Le Figaro.

    “But they want it, and they are actively …