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US Representative for Ukraine Volker to visit Donbas next week
US State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations Kurt Volker will visit eastern Ukraine next week, according to his message on Twitter. "Next week I will visit the east of Ukraine to see the situation on the ground and learn about the humanitarian crisis in the Donbas," he wrote.
This will be Volker's seventh visit to Ukraine in the last eight months of his term as a special representative. Last time, he visited Ukraine in January. President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko said …
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Sweden withdraws from Russian lunar mission and joins Chinese one
The Swedish XSAN device for measurement of neutrals and ions, which was developed for the Russian Luna-25 program, will instead travel to the Earth’s satellite on the Chinese station Chang'e-4, RIA Novosti reports, referencing a letter from the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF).
“In 2017, our Chinese colleagues suggested sending the manufactured XSAN flight module on the Chinese Chang'e-4 rover in 2018, an opportunity that we could not miss,” letter reads.
On May 11, IRF reported that …
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Russia to exclude American drugs from the sanctions list
Interfax reports that the State Duma of Russia is amending the draft bill on counter sanctions to avoid prohibiting the import of drugs from the U.S. that are similar to those which exist in Russia, Ivan Melnikov, the First Deputy Chairman of the State Duma, stated.
“It is planned to exclude from the draft bill the mention of specific industries and specific goods and services and leave only the measures that can be applied,” Melnikov said.
In the first reading of the draft bill, it was …
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German journalist who reported on doping in Russia denied visa to FIFA 2018 World Cup
Hajo Seppelt, a journalist of the German television company ARD, was denied the Russian visa needed to travel to the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Deutsche Welle reports.
On Friday, May 11, ARD’s press service reported that Seppelt was included in Russia’s list of “undesirable persons.” Details of the decision made by Russia have not been reported yet.
The German media company called Seppelt’s visa refusal “a unique event in the history of ARD sports journalism, and from the point of view of coverage …
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German Environmentalists try to ban Nord Stream 2 construction through the courts
Deutsche Welle (DW) reports that the German environmental association Nabu is seeking a decision through the courts to prevent planned work on the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on May 10 at a site in the Greifswald Bodden.
"Nabu has requested an interim decree from the Greifswald Supreme Administrative Court in order to enable the court to take a decision on action against the construction of the gas pipeline before May 15," the publication quoted a statement from the …