Contents tagged with Russia

  • German ambassador: Elections can be held in Donbas even with Russian forces present

    According to the German Ambassador to Ukraine, Ernst Reichel, holding elections in the occupied territory of Donbas is possible before Russian military forces are withdrawn, Korrespondent.net reported.

    “It’s not necessarily the case that elections in Donbas can only take place when there are no Russian forces there, or when the Ukrainian flag is flying at every city hall. Without a doubt, this is quite hard to imagine – holding local elections without ensuring safety. However, I am convinced …

  • The Kremlin disagrees with Trump's statement that Iran is a 'terrorist state'

    The Kremlin disagrees with the view of U.S. President Donald Trum, that Iran is a "terrorist state," and declares that they have an intention to develop relations with this country, as stated by the Presidential Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, TASS reported.

    "We do not agree with this approach," the Kremlin official said, commenting on Trump’s statement that Iran is "terrorist state number one."

    "You know that Russia has a good partnership with Iran, we are cooperating on a number of issues, …

  • Media: Russian hackers were not able to hack into the computers of the Dutch government

    Hackers from the APT28 and APT29 groups, who are behind the attacks on the US Democratic Party servers, tried to gain access to the computers of the Dutch government, as reported by De Volkskrant, the Dutch daily morning newspaper.

    The attacks were repeatedly carried out over the last six months and have been unsuccessful.

    Hacker groups were testing the capacity of the Netherlands civil servants, sending them phishing messages by e-mail and creating fake web sites in an effort to gain access …

  • German Foreign Minister: Rapprochement between the United States and Russia would be useful for Ukraine

    Following the visit to the United States, the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sigmar Gabriel, expressed confidence that the Administration of the U.S. President, Donald Trump, is still just developing its strategy towards Russia. Gabriel stated this on the air of the ARD TV Channel, Deutsche Welle reported. The Minister welcomed the possibility of rapprochement between the United States and Russia.

    “We must all hope that the United States and Russia will reach an agreement but not at the …

  • Klimkin: A step-by-step lifting of sanctions against Russia would be 'senseless'

    The Ukrainian Foreign Minister, Pavlo Klimkin, considers the step-by-step lifting of sanctions against Russia, as advocated by Austria, "senseless," as he stated in an interview with Austrian magazine Profil, according to the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry’s Facebook post. "If there were no sanctions, the temptation ‘to create facts on the spot’ would be much greater for Vladimir Putin. Sanctions are the only line between good and evil, peace and war, which in this situation …

  • Media: 80% of Russian air strikes in Syria were not directed against the Islamic State

    The German tabloid Bild reports that the overwhelming majority of Russian air strikes in Syria were not aimed at Islamic State targets, according to data from the Munich Security Conference of 2016.

    "The vast majority—80% of strikes—was directed at "other targets,” opposition and civilians, and this is confirmed by various human rights organizations," the newspaper notes.

    By comparison, the data for air strikes carried out by Turkey and by the U.S.-led coalition shows that 94% of the …

  • Lavrov: Russia is ready to do its part to improve relations with the USA

    The position of the new U.S. President, Donald Trump, “gives some hope for positive developments in bilateral relations.” To restore relations with Washington, Moscow is ready to do its part, as indicated by Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, to the Austrian magazine Profil.

    “We are ready to do our part to improve relations with the USA. Their degradation in recent years has occurred not because of us, but as a result of targeted actions by the previous Administration in Washington,” …

  • A new bill condemning Russian aggression in Ukraine was submitted to the U.S. Congress

    A bill supporting Ukraine and the further deterrence of Russian aggression was submitted to the U.S. Congress on February 2 by Eliot Engel, the representative of the Democratic Party. A link to the document has been published on the website of Congress under the number H.R. 830.

    Though the text of the bill itself has not been published, it makes reference to its content: "deter, respond and stop the Russian aggression in Ukraine, help Ukraine's democratic transformation." The document will be …

  • Belarus to purchase Su-30SM fighters from Russia

    This year the Belarusian military will purchase a number of modern weapons from Russia, as was stated by Belarusian Deputy Defense Minister, Igor Lotenkov.

    “In 2017, we will procure Su-30SМ aircraft, radio monitoring systems, 120-mm 2B23 Nona-М1 mortars, multi-purpose unmanned aircraft systems, and conduct modernization of BTR-70МB1 armored personnel carriers,” as stated by the Deputy Minister for Armaments and Commander of Armaments of the Armed Forces.

    According to the General, Belarusian …

  • Polish PM: Poland's position regarding sanctions on Russia has not changed

    The Prime Minister of Poland, Beata Szydło, stated that the Polish position regarding sanctions against Russia will not waver. Rzeczpospolita reports that she made this statement at the unofficial summit of the European Union in Valetta.

    "We cannot forget that sanctions against Russia were a direct result of Moscow’s policy that violated international laws. We will not agree to lift sanctions until the Kremlin’s policy changes,” she said. "The Polish position regarding the sanctions imposed …