Contents tagged with Russia
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Kremlin denies reports of possible exchange of Paul Whelan for Russian agent Maria Butina
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied media publications that claim that Moscow may exchange US citizen Paul Whelan, arrested on December 28th on suspicions of espionage for Russian agent Maria Butina.
Federal Security Service officials have detained Whelan, a former US marine, on December 28th of last year. Multiple appeared in the press where writers assumed that Moscow could use the arrest of Whelan and exchange him for Maria Butina, who is currently under arrest in the United …
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Kremlin prepares decree allowing Russian military to shoot down passenger planes that violate Russia's border
The Russian Defense Ministry drafted a government decree that would again grant permission to shoot down passenger planes that violate the state border of the Russian Federation.
The ban to hit passenger liners was introduced after the international scandal in 1983 when the Soviet Air Forces shot down the South Korean Boeing 747 carrying 269 passengers.
The ban was consolidated in post-Soviet Russia by the government decree “On the procedure for using weapon in the airspace” in 1994.
The new …
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Ukraine to spend nearly $6 million on lawyers in Crimea assets court case against Russia
Naftogaz Ukraine intends to procure the services of legal advisers for its lawsuits against Russia in 2019 demanding compensation for seized Crimean assets, the Ukrainian company’s press service reports.
According to a notice on Naftogaz’s official website, the international legal firm Covington & Burling LLP will represent the country’s interests in the lawsuit against Russia for compensation of losses caused by the illegal expropriation of the company’s assets in Crimea.
“We expect the …
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Kyiv: Ukraine is terminating 40 treaties with Russia
Ukraine's Deputy Minister for the Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, Yuriy Hrymchak stated on Channel Pryamyi that Kyiv’s intends to terminate forty treaties with Russia.
“I remind you that [Ukrainian Foreign Minister] Pavlo Klimkin stated that after the decision not to extend the Friendship Treaty [with Russia], forty more treaties with Russia are being reviewed for their possible termination,” Hrymchak said.
He noted that it is hard to say the exact number of …
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Head of NASA has no plans to visit Russia
Jim Bridenstine, head of the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), does not intend to go abroad any time soon, not even to Russia, his press secretary Megan Powers told TASS on Thursday.
“The director currently does not have plans to make any trips abroad,” she said when asked whether Bridenstine intended to travel to Russia to meet with Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin. “Future travel plans… are still under consideration,” Powers added.
She also commented on NASA’s plans to …
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Putin plans to visit Serbia
Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov’s said that the preparation of a visit by Russian President Vladimir Putin to Serbia is underway, RIA Novosti. According to Peskov, the visit agenda is being prepared currently.
On January 7th, Putin signed a decree awarding the Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic with the Order of Alexander Nevsky. According to the Kremlin, the Serbian leader was awarded this award for “a great personal contribution to developing mutual cooperation” with Russia. …
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European Union calls on Russia to release illegally held Ukrainians
The European Union called on Russia to release the Ukrainian sailors captured in the Kerch Strait and other Ukrainian citizens, that Brussels says, are also held illegally, DW reports.
“The European Union reiterates that all illegally detained Ukrainian citizens in the Crimean peninsula and in Russia and the crew of the vessels captured by Russia on 25 November must be immediately released. International human rights observers must be granted full, free and unhindered access to the Crimean …
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Belarusian President Lukashenko threatens to break off alliance with Russia
Russia risks losing its “sole ally” in the west, Belarus, if it refuses to compensate Minsk for the losses arising from a Russian tax maneuver in the oil sector, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko told Interfax in an interview.
According to Lukashenko, if the monetary dispute with Russia’s leaders is not resolved, it will not be a catastrophe for Belarus.
The amount in question is in the region of $400 million per year, the amount that the Belarusian budget earns from the fact that …
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US reports that a Russian military satellite has burnt down
Russian spacecraft Kosmos-2430, which is part of the missile attack warning system Oko, has ceased its orbital existence on January 5th, TASS reported , with reference to the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) data.
According to the data, the satellite deorbited and burned down in the atmosphere. According to unconfirmed data, connection with Kosmos-2430 was lost back in 2012-2014, at the end of the satellite life span.
The spacecraft was launched into space on October 23, 2007, …
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Ukraine refuses to register Russian observers for Presidential Elections
The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry will not accept applications for registration of Russian observers for the Ukrainian Presidential Elections, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin wrote on Facebook.
Klimkin said that several days ago, he wrote a letter to Ingibjörg Sólrún Gísladóttir, Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR). He invited the monitoring mission for the Ukrainian Presidential elections.
“Among other standard things I pointed out that …