Contents tagged with Russia

  • Kremlin: Russian troops are preparing to pull out of Syria

    The Secretary of the Security Council of Russia, Nikolai Patrushev stated that preparations for the withdrawal of the Russian military group from Syria were well under way.

    As Gazeta.ru news website writes, Patrushev clarified that the pullout would take place "when ready". Earlier, the General Staff had already stated that Russia might reduce its military forces in Syria before the end of the year.

    At the same time, the Chief of General Staff, Valery Gerasimov stressed that the ceasefire …

  • Russia to sign agreement with Cairo on use of Egyptian military airports

    Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev instructed the Russian Defense Ministry and Foreign Ministry to hold negotiations with the Egyptian government and sign an agreement on “the procedure for using the airspace and airport infrastructure of Russia and Egypt”. The text of the agreement preliminarily approved by the governments of both countries was published on November 30 on the official legal information portal.

    The agreement will permit military planes to utilize the airspace of both countries for …

  • US Congress removes Russia Today’s accreditation after its registration as foreign agent

    US Congress has taken away the press accreditation of Russian TV channel RT (Russia Today) after it registered as a foreign agent, the RT website reports.

    The relevant letter was addressed to Mikhail Solodovnikov, General Manager of RT. “This action was taken in response to the registration of RT Network’s operating company, T&R Productions LLC (T&R) as a foreign agent,” RT cites the letter as saying. The decision is effective immediately. The company T&R Productions LLC, which services RT …

  • US general says Ukraine could teach United States how to fight Russia

    In a speech at the Lviv Security Forum, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, who commands U.S. land forces in Europe, says that the U.S. Army can learn something from Ukrainian soldiers, reports Evropeyskaya Pravda.

    “We have never done battle with Russian troops, and we have never had to deal with Russian electronic warfare. But Ukrainian soldiers have. That's why we can learn something from Ukrainian soldiers, and cooperation with Ukraine is beneficial for us,” said Hodges.

    He also said that some …

  • Le Figaro: Minsk process is dead

    The results of the Eastern Partnership summit, which took place on November 24 in Brussels, show that the Donbas risks becoming a new frozen conflict within the territory of the former Soviet Union, following the examples of Transnistria, Abkhazia, and South Ossetia, due to inaction of Europeans, writes the French publication Le Figaro.

    Despite the fact that the EU declared its support for Ukraine, neither the conflict in the Donbas nor the Russian annexation of the Crimea was incorporated …

  • Speaker of Ukrainian Parliament calls on the Black Sea countries to respond to Russian aggression

    The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Andriy Parubiy, called on the countries of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) to unite against "Russian aggression," at the opening of the 50th meeting of the PABSEC General Assembly in Kyiv, 12 Ukraine reports.

    "The philosophy of our activity is to promote the development of economic cooperation, to promote the development of our states, and, accordingly, the well-being of our citizens. And when one of the …

  • Russian Media: German Foreign Minister calls for friendship with Russia despite annexation of Crimea

    German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel is convinced that, despite the European Union's position on the annexation of the Crimea, Russia and Europe need to stabilize relations.

    He said this at the 10th Russian-German Raw Material Conference that took place in St. Petersburg, Interfax reports.

    "The annexation of the Crimea is a step that is contrary to international law. However, we are all responsible for peace and stability in Europe. Our relations should not develop in a spiral of distrust, …

  • Russian Parliament proposes fining media foreign agents $86,000

    A bill has been presented in the Russian State Duma which would introduce fines for violations permitted by foreign media outlets that are identified as foreign agents. The maximum punishment is a fine of 5 million rubles (roughly $86,000).

    The bill was placed on the State Duma’s website.

    The bill was put forward by Andrey Klishas, head of the Federation Committee on Constitutional Legislation and State-Building, and Pavel Krasheninnikov, chairman of the State Duma Committee on Civil Criminal …

  • Media: Turkey exchanged Crimean Tatar leaders Chiygoz and Umerov for two Russian agents

    The Turkish government has exchanged Akhtem Chiygoz, deputy head of the Crimean Tatar people’s Mejlis, and Ilmi Umerov for two Russians accused of espionage, as announced on the Turkish TV channel Haberturk with reference to court documents.

    The Russians Alexander Smirnov and Yury Anisimov were arrested in Turkey in April 2016. They were accused of planning the murder of Chechen dissidents and have been in custody until recently.

    On October 25, the Russian authorities handed Umerov and …

  • Russia refuses to return medals of athletes accused of doping

    The Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation declared that skiers and bobsledders who were disqualified from the Olympics and stripped of their 2014 Olympic Medals are not going to return the medals and will ask the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne to consider their lawsuits before the 2018 Olympics, reported Interfax, citing a source in the Russian Ministry of Sport.

    “The Bobsled Federation of Russia and the Cross-Country Ski Federation of Russian are ready to appeal to the …