Contents tagged with Russia
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Ukrainian activist Vladimir Balukh gives final word in Crimean court
In his speech, Balukh pointed out that the reason for his imprisonment is not the ammunition which was allegedly found in his possession, but his principled position with respect to the “occupation of his homeland”, reported the Crimean Human Rights Group on their website.
“The origins of this are not at all in some cartridges, not in some substance which the court inexplicably identified as explosive, there is no basis for this at all. The decision has been made to ‘take me out’ since the …
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Foreign Minister of Estonia: twice in the past decade Russia has shown that it can invade its neighbors
The Estonian Foreign Minister, Sven Mikser, said that Russia is a country which is ready to go to war with its neighbors to achieve political goals, in an interview with Current Time, commenting on the recent visit of the U.S. Vice President Mike Pence, Postimees reports.
Answering the correspondent's question as to whether Estonia feels safe, Mikser answered, "Estonia definitely feels that our allies are protecting us. We believe that the deterrence policy really works. We neighbor a large …
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Kremlin: Russia may reconsider the disarmament agreements with the US because of the new sanctions
Mikhail Ulyanov, Director of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control at the Russian Foreign Ministry admitted to Interfax that Russia could review disarmament agreements in response to new US sanctions.
In answer to whether Moscow's retaliatory steps could touch upon the sphere of disarmament and the treaties which are in force in this area, the Foreign Ministry spokesman replied that "everything is possible in life." He recalled that in October 2016, Russia decided to suspend the …
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Ukraine tells UN that Russia is supplying weapons to separatists in Donbas
During the meeting of the UN Security Council in New York, the representatives of the Ukrainian delegation said that separatists in eastern Ukraine have received weapons and ammunition from the neighboring state.
“The international policy aimed at stopping the supply of weapons to terrorists, faces a problem when the states that must adhere to it, in fact, are violating their own international obligations and promises. One of the most striking modern examples of this is the continual influx of …
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Pence accuses Russia of trying to organize a coup in Montenegro
During his visit to Podgorica, US Vice President Mike Pence has accused Russia of last year's attempted coup in Montenegro and attempting to destabilize the Western Balkans, reports the news agency RTCG.
"In these times…we must stand together in defense of all that we hold dear…Here, in Europe, we must be resolute and uncompromising in the face of aggression from an unpredictable country that casts a shadow from the east," Pence noted.
According to Pence, Russia is trying to reshape …
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Ukrainian Defense Ministry: Russia intends to escalate military action in the Donbas in response to American sanctions
In response to the tightening of US sanctions as well as the US’s expected allocation of lethal weapons to Ukraine, Russia is planning a number of military and organizational events which will improve its abilities to escalate combat action in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, LB.ua reports, citing a high-ranking source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
“We are noting that alongside the increase in intensity of combat and, correspondingly, shipments of ammunition and weapons …
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Kremlin admits that Russian volunteers might be fighting in Syria
The Kremlin admits that Russian volunteers may be fighting in Syria, but says that, even so, official data of the Russian Ministry of Defense should be consulted for the number of casualties among Russian soldiers there, reports the Russian media.
Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated this in regards to Reuters, which alleged that the number of Russians that have been killed in Syria is higher than was officially stated.
According to him, the Russian volunteers who may be in Syria have …
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Russian Prime Minister calls new U.S. sanctions against Russia 'all-out trade war'
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called President Donald Trump’s signing of sanctions against Russia an “all-out trade war.”
“First of all, any hope of improving our relations with the new U.S. administration is at an end. Secondly, an all-out trade war has been declared on Russia. Thirdly, the Trump administration has demonstrated complete impotence, in the most humiliating manner, in transferring executive powers to Congress. This changes the alignment of power in U.S. political …
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Moldova declares Russian Deputy Prime Minister Rogozin a persona non grata
The Moldovan government adopted a ruling to declare Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin a persona non grata.
As reported by the press service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration (MFAEI), according to the adopted ruling, the Russian deputy prime minister is banned from entering Moldova and from transit through its territory.“Russian ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary to Chișinău Farit Mukhametshin was invited to the MFAEI in connection with the recent …
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Lithuania to investigate local companies doing business in Crimea
The Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a statement appealing to the Prosecutor General's Office in case of media reports about possible violations by some Lithuanian enterprises of the sanctions against Russia.
"Lithuania consistently fulfills its obligations in accordance with EU Council Regulation No. 692/2014 from June 23, 2014 in implementing the restrictions that should be applied to the importation of goods of Crimean or Sevastopol origin into the European Union in response …