• Brussels warns EU banks against placing Russian Eurobonds

    The European Union fears that income from the Eurobonds will be received by Russians who are subject to sanctions. Earlier, a similar warning was issued by the White House.

    The European Union appealed to European banks to discourage them from placing Russian Eurobonds as reported in the Financial Times on Monday, March 15th. According to European experts, money raised from the placement of these Eurobonds could be used by Russia "for other purposes," including as a source income for …

  • US expert calls for new sanctions against Russia during Senate hearings

    Ukrinform reported on Ian Brzezinski’s remarks during recent hearings in the US Senate. Brzezinski, the Senior Fellow in the International Security Program on the Atlantic Council’s Strategic Advisors Group, said that the acting sanctions against Russia weren’t sufficient to make them cease aggression against Ukraine. He added that was reason enough for the West to impose additional restrictions against whole sectors of Russian economy, instead of simply extending them.

    “The West should get to …

  • Obama urges Putin to release Nadiya Savchenko

    During a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 14th, US President Barack Obama urged the Russian leader to release Ukrainian pilot Nadiya Savchenko, Interfax reported.

    The news agency quoted the press secretary of the US Embassy in Moscow, Will Stevens.

    "President Obama also urged President Putin to release detained pilot and parliamentarian Nadiya Savchenko in accordance with the Minsk commitment to release all unlawfully detained persons," Stevens said. …

  • Operation in Syria could cost Russia up to $535 million

    According to the RBC media outlet, Russia could spend at least 38 billion rubles or up to $535 million on the military operation in Syria. Since the beginning of the campaign its costs could have grown by almost half.Costs per dayDuring Russia's 167-day military campaign in Syria the daily cost of operations could have grown by almost 50%, RBC estimates, basing its calculation on the data that was revealed by the Defense Ministry and the experts' evaluations.At the end of October 2015 the cost …

  • Dzhemilev: Turkey didn't impose sanctions against Russia until later in an attempt to protect Crimean Tatars

    The Chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, Mustafa Dzhemilev, stated in his interview with Radio Svoboda that Turkey joined the sanctions imposed against Russia for the annexation of Crimea only after the deterioration of their relationship with the Russian Federation. Prior to that, Turkey hadn’t joined the group of countries that impose sanctions against Russia.

    According to Dzhemilev, officials in Ankara believed the Turkish leader would be more powerful and better able to …