• The Kremlin: Relations with Turkey cannot be mended in only a few days

    Turkish President Tayyip Erdoğan’s letter to Russian President Vladimir Putin is a very important step towards improving relations between the two countries, though their problems cannot be resolved in a few days, according to Putin’s Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov.

    “We have received the message intended by President Erdoğan and we know that it is an important step towards the normalization of relations. We all know that Russia and President Putin held a very firm and consistent position. …

  • Russian tourism in Turkey fell by 90% since last year

    Only 41,000 Russian tourists visited Turkey in May 2016. This is 91.82% less than in the last month of spring 2015, as indicated by the Turkish Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

    Usually, the flow of Russian tourists to Turkey increases dramatically in May. For example, in 2015 the country was visited by over 501,000 Russians, in 2014 – by almost 695,000. However, the bans on selling trips and the cancellation of charter flights has led to an almost complete block of tourist flow. In May 2016, …

  • State Duma intends to simplify process of granting Russian citizenship to residents of the Donbas

    On Tuesday, the deputies of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation (CPRF) again introduced a bill at the State Duma, which proposes a simplified procedure for granting Russian citizenship to residents of the Donbas, TASS reported.

    "The initiative concerns the citizens of Ukraine and stateless persons who previously permanently resided or are residing now in the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine, and who, according to Russian law, are classified as compatriots; and, …

  • The EU seeks a decision on the ratification of a trade agreement with Ukraine

    The European Union (EU) wants to find a legal solution that will allow the Netherlands to ratify the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. RIA Novosti reported that this was said by the head of the European Council, Donald Tusk, after the summit of the EU leaders.

    “The European Council has discussed the ratification of the EU-Ukraine free trade agreement. We have decided to do everything possible to find a legally binding decision that will enable the Prime Minister of the Netherlands, Mark Rutte, …

  • Russia gives Serbia two Mi-17 helicopters

    Russia has donated two Mi-17-B5 military transport helicopters to the Serbian Army. The ceremony was held on Tuesday at the Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade in the presence of the Prime Minister of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, the Minister of Defense of Serbia, Zoran Đorđević and the Minister of Internal Affairs, Nebojša Stefanović.

    “For the first time in the past 36 years, the Army of Serbia received new helicopters,” the Prime Minister said. Vučić thanked the Serbian Ministry of Defense for …