Japan believes Putin’s visit is the last chance for Abe to solve Kuril Islands dispute

A deputy of the lower house of Japan's ruling parliament, the Liberal Democratic Party, who is also the former Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology, Hakubun Shimomura, believes that the upcoming December visit of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Japan is the last chance for Prime Minister Shinzō Abe to resolve the territorial dispute, TASS reported.

According to Kyodo News, he expressed this opinion on Sunday while on Fuji TV.

“This visit is the last chance. It is …


Kyiv estimates Russia lost $5 billion in attempts to block Ukraine’s gas imports

Russian Gazprom tried to block Ukrainian gas imports from Europe and spent billions of dollars on these unsuccessful attempts, according to Yuriy Vitrenko, the Managing Director for Business Development at the national joint-stock company Naftogaz of Ukraine.

"We buy gas from the largest European gas companies. A lot of them produce gas themselves. Many also buy gas from other producing companies, including from Gazprom, which prevented us from buying gas in Europe. According to current …


Ukrainian military: Toretsk is on the verge of humanitarian catastrophe because of separatists

Due to a damaged water line, Toretsk is on the verge of a humanitarian catastrophe, however, the separatists cannot guarantee the security of Ukrainian public utilities workers needed to start the repairs, as reported on Sunday by the press center of the Ukrainian armed forces.

They indicated that as a result of shelling that took place on 23 November, a water supply line connecting of Horlivka and Toretsk was hit and damaged. Since then, the water supply to the city of Toretsk and neighboring …


Ukraine might lose Eurovision-2017

Ukraine may lose the right to host the 2017 Eurovision Song Contest. According to TSN, this was announced by the acting director general of the National Television Company of Ukraine (NTU), Oleksandr Harebin.

“In early October, the European Broadcasting Union, as the owner of the Eurovision brand, gave the NTU a red card with regard to the timing and the actual failure to prepare for Eurovision,” Harebin said.

According to him, the contest could be derailed because of the bureaucracy in …


Former PM Azarov expressed his wish to return to Ukraine

The congress of the so-called Union of Political Migrants and Prisoners of Ukraine, under the leadership of the former prime minister of Ukraine, Mykola Azarov, who fled to the Russian Federation during Maidan, was held in Russia.

“Each of the participants of the congress has had a difficult fate, they had to leave their native land in challenging conditions, go through tortures and abuses,” Azarov wrote on his Facebook page on November 27.

The former prime minister of Ukraine added that a …