Contents tagged with Moscow
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Germany’s Federal Intelligence Service examines Russia's ties with the far-right German parties
The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) is examining Russia's ties with the far-right German parties, including the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD), the Redaktions Netzwerk Deutschland RND (German Editorial Network) reported on Thursday, citing intelligence sources.
The leadership of Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) decided to relocate with all its regional offices amid concerns that Moscow might try to influence European elections in …
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Russian presidential aide: Putin’s political machine is only gaining momentum
Russian presidential aide Vladislav Surkov says that the Russia of today is “Putin’s state”.
Surkov wrote about the condition of the Russian government in an article titled “Putin’s long-lasting state” that was published in the Nezavisimaya Gazeta on Monday.
“Russian history has known four main models of state, which can be provisionally named after their creators: Ivan III’s state (The Grand Duchy/Kingdom of Moscow and all Rus, 15-17th century); Peter the Great’s state (Russian empire, 18-19 …
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Putin accepts invitation to visit Italy
Russian President Vladimir Putin accepted an invitation to visit Italy, stated the Russian Ambassador in Rome, Sergey Razov in an interview with RIA Novosti.
“With regard to the Russian President's visit to Italy, the relevant invitation from the Italian leadership was received and accepted with appreciation,” he noted. Razov added that they will agree on a specific time frame later through diplomatic channels.
Razov stressed that Putin's visit to Italy could be a key event in bilateral …
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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 …
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Putin: Russia reserves the right ‘to protect freedom of religion’ in Ukraine
Russia does not interfere in church affairs in Ukraine but “reserves the right to protect freedom of religion”, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at an event dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the enthronement of Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia, Interfax reported.
Putin said that there is actually a struggle for power, as well as speculations and cheap politics in the context of church affairs. He expressed regret that the Constantinople Patriarchate has been involved in the …
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French ambassador: number of Russians requesting visas has grown by 40%
During the reception of the diplomatic mission in Moscow , French ambassador to Russia Sylvie Bermann stated that demand among Russian tourists for visas to France according to last year’s results increased by 40%, RBC reports.
“The number of visa requests increased by more than 40% in 2018,” she said.
According to her, the requests continue to grow. She noted that the French government is ready to accept all tourists from Russia, who plan on visiting France.
Also, Bermann stressed that …
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Swedish Air Force: Russian warplanes violated Sweden's airspace
A surveillance aircraft and two destroyers of the Russian Air Force violated Swedish airspace over the Baltic coast entering it for a short period, the Swedish Air Force reported.
In the report published on January 24th, Swedish Air Force stated that the incident occurred on January 19th. An Il-20 surveillance aircraft and two Su-27 fighters flew near the city of Karlshamn, in south Sweden. The Russian aircraft entered Swedish airspace without permission, which the Swedish military reported to …
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Citibank to close one third of its Russian branches
The subsidiaries of foreign banks are continuing to reduce their presence in Russia. Citibank, a subsidiary of the American Citigroup, plans to close one third of its branches in Russia over the course of 2019, board member and consumer business manager Michael Berner told reporters on Wednesday.
The bank is currently in the top 30 in Russia by assets, and has 22 branches, 12 of them in Moscow.
“In the first quarter we plan to close two branches in Moscow and one in St. Petersburg, and in the …
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Media: Russia agrees to tolerate Israeli attacks in Syria
After the most recent consultations to prevent conflicts in Syria, which the Russian and Israeli military delegations held last Thursday, the Israeli army’s press service released a generic statement on the “positive and professional atmosphere” in which the meetings took place and their “agreement to continue working together in the spirit of mutual understanding”.
During the talks, the two sides agreed on the new “rules of the game” which are based on the agreements on the mechanism of …
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Russian court extends the arrest of all captive Ukrainian sailors for three months
The Joint Group for Public Monitoring of the observance of the Constitutional freedoms of the Russian Federation reported on Twitter that the Moscow Lefortovo Court extended for three months the arrest of all 24 Ukrainian sailors captured near the Kerch Strait. It is noted that Judge Ryabtsev left Viktor Bespalchenko, Volodymyr Varymez, Vladyslav Kostyshyn and Volodymyr Lisovy in a pre-trial detention center until April 24. "The result. All but the wounded sailors remain in the remand prison …