Contents tagged with Russian
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Russia and Belarus to create joint Parliament and Government
Belarusian Ambassador to Russia Vladimir Semashko said that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko agreed to create a joint Parliament and government as part of the Union State.
"The presidents agreed that the stated goals are ambitious, and they should not change. These goals include the transition to unified tax legislation, the creation of common markets for oil, gas, and electricity, the creation of a single Parliament and government with executive …
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Russia refuses to hand over Ukrainian naval boats captured in the Kerch Strait
Ukraine must “publicly acknowledge its provocation” before Russia will give back the naval vessels it captured near the Kerch Strait, said Sergey Tsekov, a member of Russia’s Federation Council, as cited by TASS.
“Ukraine, as far as I know, still has not publicly acknowledged the fact of its provocation in the Kerch Strait. I think that’s exactly what they should have done. And afterwards, they could talk about property,” Tsekov remarked.
He said that the ships could still “be of interest to …
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Russia-Ukraine prisoner swap delayed because of charges against Ukrainian sailors
Russia and Ukraine could use a new approach to criminal cases in their prisoner exchange, the newspaper Kommersant reported, citing a source close to the negotiation process.
According to the initial arrangement, the prisoner swap was meant to take place on September 1. Kommersant notes that the format has been expanded to 35 prisoners from each side. The newspaper’s source explained that problems emerged because the countries could not agree on the legal basis for releasing and transferring …
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Putin orders to prepare symmetrical response to the US missile tests
Russian President Vladimir Putin during a meeting with permanent members of the Russian Security Council ordered "to take comprehensive measures to prepare a symmetrical response" to the test of the US cruise missile.
Commenting on the US test of the Tomahawk type missile, Putin noted that the United States made a gross violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF). In his opinion, the Americans "orchestrated a propaganda campaign" around Russia's non-compliance with the …
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Russian defense minister talks of threat in the East
The military strategic situation around Russia remains tense: in addition to increased activity by NATO states in the West, there are now threats coming from the East, said Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu.
Shoygu claims that the eastern threat to Russia is being created by the actions of the US and its allies, who he says are trying to expand their influence in the Asian and Pacific region.
“In the eastern strategic area there is a persisting trend towards a complication of the …
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Crimean authorities consider using cryptocurrency instead of US dollars
The Deputy Chairman of the Crimean Council of Ministers, Georgy Muradov, said that Crimean authorities appealed to the General Director of the Russian Agency for Strategic Initiatives Svetlana Chupsheva with a request to support the initiative for the creation of a regional experimental cryptocurrency platform, reports finanz.ru.
On April 19, advisor to the Russian President Sergey Glazyev proposed to introduce digital money technologies in the Crimea to reduce cross-border restrictions and …
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Kremlin: Estonia’s non-recognition of Russian passports is a ‘humanitarian blockade of the Donbas’
The Russian embassy in Tallinn has commented on a decision by the Estonian Foreign Ministry not to recognize Russian passports issued to inhabitants of the Ukrainian Donbas.
“It is regrettable that Estonia continues to persistently fight to lead the race among EU countries on the anti-Russian track. We are convinced that the Estonian authorities’ effective participation in the humanitarian blockade of the Donbas, which for more than five years has been deprived of government and banking …
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Kremlin: US sanctions powerless to punish Russia
The new round of US sanctions aimed at banning American banks from participating in the initial placements of Russian government eurobonds demonstrates the “failure” of Washington’s attempts to pressurize Moscow, said Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The sanctions that make it harder for the Russian government to acquire new dollar-denominated debt are “nothing particularly new”, said Zakharova in a comment published on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website.
“For a long …
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Kyiv: Russia amassing troops near Mariupol and Kharkiv
Deputy Commander of the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation Major-General Bogdan Bondar said during a broadcast of Hromadske.TV that Russia is amassing troops along the Ukrainian-Russian border near Mariupol and Kharkiv.
According to Bondar, Russia has been gradually doing this from the beginning of the conflict in the Donbas.
"At the beginning of the conflict, they also had limited opportunities. However, during this time, they have built training ranges, places for the deployment of military …
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Russian citizen in Lithuania sentenced to 10 years in prison for espionage
Russian citizen Nikolai Filipchenko has been sentenced by the district court of Vilnius (Lithuania) to 10 years in prison on charges of espionage, Delfi news agency reports.
According to investigators, Filipchenko, who was detained in Lithuania in 2015, is an employee of the Russian FSB.
The Lithuanian Prosecutor General's Office detained him on a transit train during a trip through Lithuania from the Kaliningrad region to Belarus. The Russian citizen, according to the Prosecutor's Office, …