Contents tagged with Russia

  • Russia warns Ukraine and NATO against sending ships through the Kerch Strait

    Moscow called on Ukraine and its Western partners to abandon the new attempt to send naval ships through the Kerch Strait.

    At a press briefing, the spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called the possible passage of Ukrainian ships through the Kerch Strait "a reckless initiative", RIA Novosti reports.

    Zakharova also noted that the "Western supervisors" of Kyiv should come up with a way of "reasoning with the ruling regime" in Ukraine in order to make them abandon the …

  • Russian State Duma proposes a constitutional review to Putin 

    Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the leadership of the State Duma and Federation Council. Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin proposed to him that the Russian Constitution needed an overhaul and that legal experts should be called in to evaluate its relevance to the current reality. 

    “25 years ago is the time when such questions could have be answered,” TASS cites Volodin as saying. The Deputy claimed that judges from the Constitutional Court, scholars in the Constitutional Right and …

  • China rejects transition to settlements in national currency with Russia

    The redirection of Russia’s economic policy to the East, announced after the annexation of Crimea and the sharp deterioration of relations with the West, has ended up as a wake-up call. 

    The attempt to get China involved in de-dollarization and to formalize the transition to reciprocal trade in national currencies has not been successful. 

    China refused to sign the intergovernmental agreement to settle in national currencies that was drafted in 2014 and already considered a “done deal” by …

  • Kremlin claims NATO increased the number of high-precision strategic weapons near Russian borders

    NATO countries, especially the USA are building up their military activities near Russian borders and deploying high-precision, strategic weapons systems, said Admiral Vladimir Korolyov, Commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy, reported the RBC. 

    Korolyov said the Russian Fleet’s development plans will be implemented next year, considering “the deployment of missile defense systems, strategic non-nuclear systems of high-precisions weapons, and military infrastructure facilities in the adjacent …

  • Moldovan President Dodon counts on Russian peacekeepers to ensure stability in Transnistria

    Moldovan President Igor Dodon wrote on Facebook after a meeting with the President of unrecognized Transnistria, Vadim Krasnoselsky that he considers Russian peacekeepers in Transnistria a defining factor of stability in the region. 

    "[We] reaffirmed the importance of preserving the existing peacekeeping operation as a factor in maintaining stability and peace in the security zone. It was also noted that some challenges occurred in the area this year, but with joint efforts we managed to …

  • Russia calls Israel's air strikes on Iranian military bases ‘a flagrant violation of Syria's sovereignty’

    In a statement published on Russian Foreign Ministry’s website, the Kremlin stated that the attacks by Israeli warplanes in the vicinity of Damascus are a "flagrant violation of the sovereignty" of Syria, as well as the provisions of the UN resolution.

    "We are extremely concerned about both the fact of the strikes and the way they were carried out. This is a flagrant violation of Syria's sovereignty and the provisions of UN Security Council resolutions, including resolution 1701, " the …

  • Kremlin: Russian government lost trust in Belarus 

    Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the Russian Federation has lost trust in Belarus. 

    According to him, this is due to the fact that Belarus has been violating the Russian-Belarusian customs regime, including the import of sanctioned and excisable goods into the Russian Federation. 

    “We keep telling Belarus that they are our neighbor, our ally, but we have recently lost trust in Belarus. All those solvents, sanctioned products that come to us, excisable goods, cigarettes that …

  • Russia expands sanctions against Ukraine 

    Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that the list of Ukrainian citizens and companies under sanctions would be expanded. 

    “The list of persons and legal entities of Ukraine, that will be included in the list of special restrictive measures has been expanded. I signed the appropriate decree,” wrote Medvedev on Twitter. 

    TASS with reference to the Russian Cabinet press service report that the signed decree has been expanded to include more than 200 individuals and organizations.  …

  • Putin invites Lukashenko to lunch for a private chat

    Vladimir Putin has invited Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who arrived recently in Moscow, to a meal without any delegations from the two countries, TASS reports. 

    “I propose this arrangement: we will listen to how our colleagues have been working, and then we will give the delegations another opportunity to talk, and then I want to invite you separately to a New Year’s work lunch,” Putin said. 

    When speaking about how Russia-Belarus relations have been developing in recent times, …

  • Nord Stream 2 construction begins in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone 

    The Solitaire, a ship working on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, has begun laying pipes in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone, Aftonbladet reports. The pipes needed for construction will be stored at the Swedish Karshamn Port. 

    Sveriges Radio reported that the pipe-laying operation in this region will last until summer 2019, and that the Karshamn Port administration has hired 110 extra staff for this period. 

    Nord Stream AG, the pipeline’s operator company, announced on December 23 that the …