• Russian media claims that more than 60,000 Donbas residents have applied for Russian passports

    More than 60 thousand residents of Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are temporally not controlled by Ukraine, applied for the Russian citizenship on a simplified procedure, reports RBC-Ukraine with reference to Russian media.

    It is reported that every day Russian migration authorities receive more than a thousand such applications. Since this number is growing every day, the Russian Interior Ministry is forced to expand the staff of the migration service.

    It is unclear from the statistics of …

  • Russia demands compensation from China for deforestation in Siberia

    Russia is expecting China to invest in a joint project to restore the forest in Siberia in the wake of illegal logging and subsequent exportation to china, Dmitry Kobylkin, Russian Minister of Natural Resources and Ecology, told Vedomosti in an interview.

    He said that “serious work” is being done with the Chinese.

    “I asked their law enforcement agencies to get involved,” Kobylkin explained, “Because I really don’t like the fact that we are dealing with their ‘comrades’ on our own here in …

  • Russia to establish naval base in Venezuela

    The Russian and Venezuelan defense ministries have agreed to expand the cooperation between their navies.

    At a meeting in Moscow on Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu and his Venezuelan counterpart Vladimir Podrino Lopez signed an agreement to allow visits by military vessels.

    As part of the agreement, the Venezuelan ports will be opened to the Russian Navy, effectively enabling Russia to acquire a naval base in Latin America.

    Since December 2017, Russia has had a similar …

  • Kremlin: Israel and Saudi Arabia want to join ‘Russian NATO’

    The Russian Foreign Ministry says that Israel, Saudi Arabia, and several other countries would like to join the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SOC), which was founded by Russia and China, among others.

    “In our portfolio today we have applications from Israel, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and masses of other countries that want to join the SOC’s activity in one way or another, in one capacity or another,” said Russian special presidential representative Bakhtier Khakimov, as cited by …

  • Merkel: EU cooperation with Russia will be limited until it adheres to Minsk agreements

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that the full cooperation of the European Union with Russia would not be possible until it implements the Minsk agreements, reports Interfax-Ukraine.

    "The Minsk agreements must be implemented... before that, the opportunities for cooperation will not be at the same level we would like them to be," said Merkel at a joint press conference with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda. According to the German Chancellor, the parties discussed this issue at the …