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Japan and Russia agreed to pursue joint economic activities on the disputed Kuril Islands
During two days of talks, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to settle the long territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, which were ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II. The parties, however, agreed to continue the dialogue and carry out joint economic activities on the disputed islands, Japanese media reported on Friday, December 16th, following the talks.
During the talks, Putin and Abe negotiated easing travel restrictions between the …
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Obama said Russian cyberattacks ceased after he spoke with Putin in September
According to US President Barack Obama, at the September G20 summit in China, after a conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, the attacks on the Democratic party servers during the election campaign stopped as Obama threatened Russia with "significant consequences." Speaking at a press conference in Washington on Friday, December 16th, Obama said that after a tete-a-tete conversation with Putin, the cyberattacks stopped, but the leak through WikiLeaks happened earlier so …
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Ukrainians have filed 3,000 individual lawsuits against Russia
Ukrainians have filed 3,000 individual lawsuits with the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) against Russia due to Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, as outlined in the ECHR's annual summary for 2016.
In addition, the ECHR is considering four interstate lawsuits filed by Ukraine against the Russian Federation. It should be noted that Russia has traditionally been ranked first on the absolute number of complaints to the European Court of Human Rights.
In spite of that, the number of cases …
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Latvia to build fortifications along border with Russia
The Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia assigned land in the Alūksne district to build fortifications aimed at protecting the eastern borders of the country to the Defense Ministry, as reported by Delfi news agency. The area in the Pededze parish is 1.68 hectares. The Ministry did not specify what is going to be built there.
The Pededze parish borders Russia. The Infantry School of the Armed Forces as well as the Lacusils training ground are located in the Alūksne district.
Earlier in December, …
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Defense Ministers of the Baltic States stated that an improvement in relations between NATO and Russia should not be expected
The Ministers of Defense of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania stated that improvement of relations between NATO and the Russian Federation in 2017 is unlikely, the ERR.ee portal reported. The representatives also agree that work will continue according to the OSCE Vienna document.
The ministers signed a traditional communiqué on cooperation, noting that next year will have strategic importance for the region because NATO military forces will be deployed there.
“The next year will be extremely …