Contents tagged with Russia

  • Merkel’s party calls for action against Nord Stream 2 pipeline

    Angela Merkel’s intention to step down from the position of leader of Germany’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, and later from the position of federal chancellor, threatens to cause trouble for Russia.

    Merkel’s most likely successor as head of the ruling CDU, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, has criticized Russia for exacerbating the conflict with Ukraine, and has identified the Nord Stream 2 project as a possible target of response measures.

    Refusing to support the project at all would be …

  • Russian border guards who seized Ukrainian ships will receive an award

    A chairman for the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, stated that the Russian Parliament is preparing a proposal to award the border guards who attacked and seized Ukrainian ships in neutral waters near the Kerch Strait on November 25th.

    “For our part, we requested that the committee on security and anti-corruption consider rewarding border guards involved in preventing a violation of our borders and protecting the law,” reports Interfax quoting Volodin. Suggestions must be ready for the …

  • Ukrainian President introduces bill to end Friendship Treaty with Russia

    On December 3, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko put forward a bill in the Verkhovna Rada to end the Treaty on Friendship, Cooperation and Partnership between Ukraine and Russia.

    The explanatory note of bill No. 0206 states that Russia’s ongoing aggression has led to the violation of most of the treaty’s articles, something which Ukraine systematically emphasizes in diplomatic correspondence. “However, at present there are no signs of Russia having a bona fide intention to eliminate the …

  • Ukrainian Prime Minister: Nord Stream 2 is Russia's weapon in war against Europe

    On Sunday, the press service of the Ministers Cabinet reported that Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman described the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project in Russia as a subtle form of war against Europe.

    "Nord Stream 2 is a form of disguised war against Europe. We know what it is like to be dependent on Russia energetically and politically. We know how dangerous it is, from our own experience. Therefore, we now view this project as one of Russia's geopolitical weapons," said Groysman in an …

  • Finland disallows Putin's friend to build a house near the military training area

    Finnish authorities have banned businessman Boris Rotenberg, who is close to the Russian President Vladimir Putin, from building a residential real estate near the military training ground in the Finnish city of Hanko, reports the Ilta-Sanomat newspaper.

    In 2016, the Environment Commission allowed Rotenberg to build a 350 square meters guesthouse in the specified location. The Finnish defense forces appealed this decision in court.  

    The first complaint of the military department, filed in …

  • Ukrainian President: we need our allies help to hold back Russia in the Black Sea

    Ukraine needs an increased naval presence of Germany and allies in the Black Sea. It could serve as a deterrent to Russia, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in an interview with the German Funke Media Group, the president's press service reported.

    “We need a strong, unified, unambiguous reaction to Russia’s aggressive behavior. We must prevent Nord Stream 2. We have to consider imposing new sanctions now,” Poroshenko said.

    The Ukrainian President said that Russia's aggressive actions …

  • Putin: Russia will not impose mirror restrictions for entry of Ukrainian citizens

    Russia will not impose response measures against the entry of Ukrainian citizens, stated Russian President Vladimir Putin during a press-conference following the G20 Summit in Buenos Aires, the press-service of the Kremlin reports.

    "We are not going to impose any restrictions against Ukrainian citizens. Moreover, on the contrary, we will move towards easing the requirements for the visits of Ukrainian citizens in our territory and easing the procedure for obtaining Russian citizenship, if they …

  • American aircraft conduct reconnaissance flights near Crimea

    On Sunday, the RQ-4B Global Hawk, a strategic unmanned aerial vehicle or UAV of the US Air Force carried out an eight-hour reconnaissance flight near the Black Sea coast of Russia, flying near the Crimea, the Kerch Strait and Kuban, Interfax reports, citing the monitoring data of Western aviation portals.

    Later in the afternoon, a US Navy P-8A Poseidon patrol plane joined it. Both aircraft took off from Sigonella Naval Air Station in Sicily, Italy. Both aircraft which can conduct electronic …

  • Russian Foreign Minister: Putin and Erdogan reached agreement on Idlib

    Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, on the television show “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin” stated that the presidents of Russia and Turkey at the G20 summit in Buenos Aires agreed on new steps aimed at stabilizing the situation around the demilitarized zones in the Syrian Idlib, TASS reports.

    “The agreement on Idlib was confirmed. It was noted that, despite the active, consistent actions of our Turkish colleagues, still not all extremists obeyed the requirement to free the 20-kilometer demilitarized zone, …

  • Missing US citizen found in DPR

    The American citizen William Paul Reilly, who went missing after he traveled to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) to fight alongside pro-Russian militants, has been found. More specifically, his grave has been found, according to an independent investigation published by the blogger Denis Kazansky.

    On May 15, 2015, Reilly traveled from the US to Moscow, where he was met by a recruiter who was sending Russian militants to the Donbas. After meeting with him, Reilly went to Rostov. There he was …