Contents tagged with Russia

  • Russia urgently recalls its diplomat from Ukraine after incident in Odessa airport

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia urgently recalled the third secretary of the Consulate General of the Russian Federation in Odessa, Andrey Malakey.

    This happened after an object resembling a shuriken (Japanese throwing knife) was discovered in his hand luggage at the airport in Odessa, Censor.net reports.

    "On June 1, 2018, when the Russian diplomat was passaging baggage control in Odessa International Airport, suspicions arose about the presence of prohibited items in his briefcase. …

  • Poroshenko calls on Macron to intensify pressure against Russia to release Ukrainian political prisoners

    The Ukrainian President’s Press Service reports that President Petro Poroshenko held a telephone conversation with French President Emmanuel Macron during which the two parties agreed on further contacts through the Normandy Format to ensure the implementation of the Minsk agreements on the settlement of the situation on the Donbas.

    “The interlocutors discussed the security situation in the Donbas and the need for a UN peacekeeping mission throughout its occupied territory. The interlocutors …

  • Netanyahu tells Putin that Israel will not tolerate Iran's presence in Syria

    On Sunday, at a weekly meeting of the Israeli Government, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he told Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo, that Israel would take action against Iran's military presence in Syria.  

    "In the end of the week, I spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin and the U.S. Secretary of State, Michael Pompeo," Netanyahu said.

    “I have repeated our basic principles on Syria. First, Iran must withdraw from the …

  • US State Department accuses Russia of using intimidation tactics against the OSCE mission in the Donbas

    U.S. State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert declared that Russian-backed militants must stop shooting in the direction of the Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) staff of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in Eastern Ukraine.

    "I’m seeing reports that Russia-subordinated personnel fired a weapon to intimidate unarmed OSCE SMM monitors in eastern Ukraine," Nauert wrote. "OSCE SMM risks their lives to protect civilians. Russia should stop this deplorable behavior and …

  • Kyiv expresses concern over convoys of Russian military equipment moving towards Transnistrian border with Ukraine

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine is concerned about the transfer of Russian military equipment to the territory of the unrecognized Transnistria, stated the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

    "The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine expresses its concern over the actions of the Russian Federation in violation of the Transnistrian conflict zone regime, particularly the unauthorized transfer on June 14, 2018 of military equipment and weapons for the Operational Group of Russian …

  • Russia selling off US government debt

    In April, Russia sold out half of the U.S. Treasury bills worth 47.5 billion dollars, leaving a $48.7 billion, according to the data published on the website of the U.S. Treasury.

    Thus, Russia has fallen in the ranking of the US government debt holders from 16th to 22d place. China, holding $1.18 trillion of the US debt, and Japan, with $1.03 trillion, are at the top of the list.

    On June 15, the President of the United States Donald Trump has launched a trade war against China, introducing a 2 …

  • Former Ukrainian Military Commander proposes to cut off the Crimean peninsula from land access

    Anatoly Lopata, the Ukrainian former Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and former First Deputy Defense Minister, stated that Ukraine should cut off the Crimean peninsula from land access, turning it into an island. 

    In an interview with Obozrevatel, Lopata stated that Russia currently “dominates the waters near the peninsula.” “But we can approach this from an entirely different angle by cutting off the Crimean canal from the land, making the Crimea into an island,” Lopata stated. …

  • Convoy of Russian military equipment spotted near Ukrainian border in Transnistria

    A convoy of Russian military equipment heading towards the Ukrainian border has been reported by social media users.

    "A convoy of Russian armored vehicles, having left the base of the Russian Arme Forces, is moving on the Tiraspol - Ribnița Highway, a few kilometers away from the Ukrainian border. This is the security zone. They are not allowed to be there,"  expert Artem Filipenko wrote on Facebook. He also posted photo and video of the convoy.

    "On June 14, starting at 08:30, on the route …

  • US State Department accuses Assad's forces of violating agreement on de-escalation zones in Syria

    The US Department of State expressed concern on about reports that Syrian government forces are conducting operations in one of the de-escalation zones in southwestern of Syria in violation of previously-reached agreements.

    "The United States remains concerned by reports of impending Syrian government operations in southwest Syria within the boundaries of the de-escalation zone [that had been] negotiated between the United States, Jordan, and the Russian Federation last year and reaffirmed …

  • Russia to complete delivery of S-400 missile systems for Turkey by May 2019

    The Russian Defense companies were instructed to complete the production of S-400 surface-to-air missile systems that will be delivered to Turkey before May 2019, a military-diplomatic source told TASS news agency.

    "The companies working on the order were instructed to finish the production of systems before May 2019 to begin supplying Turkey in July," the source said. The Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of Russia and Rosoboronexport (Russia’s arms exporter) have not …