Contents tagged with EU

  • Kremlin: Russia lost over 6 billion dollars due to sanctions

    Russian export companies lost 6,300 billion dollars due to economic sanctions from the West, reports Russian news agency Interfax, citing a report by the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia. This figure is based on the department's experts’ data collected at the end of 2018. 

    The report notes that the European Union is a leader in the number of restrictive measures in respect of Russian goods. It has implemented exactly twenty-five sanctions. In the second place is Ukraine, which …

  • Kyiv: Ukraine insists on a permanent international mission in the Kerch Strait

    Ukraine insists on a permanent observation mission in the Kerch Strait, and Russia does not agree with this, Interfax Ukraine quoted Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin as saying. 

    “We are now talking about making this mission permanent and observing both from space and from water in order to know exactly what Russia is doing and not doing there... We need to get a permanent mission. Russia refuses it,” the minister told reporters in Munich. 

    The Ukrainian Foreign Minister noted that he …

  • Ukrainian President : Kyiv hopes to receive various types of weapons from Washington

    At a meeting with US Vice President Michael Pence, during the Munich Security Conference, the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated that Ukraine hopes to receive various types of weapons from the US.

    “We had a very detailed meeting with the vice president. He stressed at the outset that Ukraine is a reliable strategic partner of the United States. We firmly hope for cooperation, including in the area of defense, for the supply of all types of weapons to Ukraine,” he said commenting to …

  • Ukrainian President: EU to introduce 'Azov sanctions' against Russia next week

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told journalists in Munich that the European Union will approve the “Azov sanctions package" against Russia next week, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

    "I have no doubt that in the near future, at the beginning of next week, after coordinating efforts with Ukraine, sanctions will definitely be adopted in Brussels,” Poroshenko stated. He said that the "the Azov sanctions package" against Russia was discussed with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Chairman …

  • US Secretary of State calls Lavrov to inform about new sanctions against Russia

    US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a telephone conversation with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, during which he announced Washington’s intention to impose additional sanctions against the Russian Federation, reported the website of the Russian Foreign Ministry. 

    “In connection with the US Secretary of State’s intention to impose additional sanctions on Russia under the absolutely unproven excuse of last year’s turbid story of the alleged “poisoning” of S.B. Skripal and his …

  • President Poroshenko: EU and NATO are guarantors of Ukraine's security

    On Saturday, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko stated during the “Open Dialogue” forum in Kyiv that only the country’s membership in the EU and NATO could guarantee Ukraine’s security and independence. 

    “Only full-scale and equal membership in the European Union and NATO definitively and irrevocably guarantees independence, national security, freedom and well-being for our country,” Interfax-Ukraine quotes Poroshenko as saying. 

    According to the president, Ukraine’s achievement of the …

  • Hungary may oppose EU arms embargo on Belarus

    EU ambassadors will soon discuss the extension of the embargo on selling weapons to Belarus. The matter has been reviewed annually since 2011, and requires the consent of all 28 EU member-states.

    However, this year there is reason to believe that the extension of the embargo may be blocked by Hungary, which has already exempt biathlon rifles and other sport weapons from the embargo.

    Diplomatic sources told Radio Liberty that Hungary has already warned that, before supporting the arms embargo, …

  • Ukrainian Parliament to start new session with changes to the Constitution of Ukraine

    According to the Verkhovna Rada’s meeting schedule for February 5 to 8, Parliament will review Draft Bill No. 9037 in the second reading on February 7, which establishes in the Ukrainian Constitution the authority of Parliament, the head of state and the government to implement the country's strategic course for acquiring full membership in the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). 

    At least 300 votes are required to adopt the Draft Bill.

    The draft bill supplements …

  • Volker: US and EU considering new sanctions on Russia for capturing Ukrainian sailors

    US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker believes that Russia is holding the Ukrainian sailors in order to put political pressure on the Ukrainian government ahead of its presidential elections. Volker considers it possible that additional sanctions will be imposed on Russia for this.

    “Russia continues illegally to hold these Ukrainian sailors and illegally is charging them with crimes under a civilian code, seeking to illegally enter Russian territory, which is not the case. So …

  • Ukraine backs Juan Guaido’s presidency in Venezuela

    Ukraine supports Juan Guaidó, the head of the National Assembly of Venezuela who recently declared himself president of the country, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Twitter.

    “Responding with force to the demands of peaceful protesters is a shortcut for the government to lose its legitimacy. We are betting on the National Assembly and the wisdom of its president Juan Guaidó to emerge from this political crisis,” Klimkin said in the tweet.

    The opposition’s demands for new …