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Turkish citizens no longer have visa-free entry to Russia
Russia suspended the visa-free policy with Turkey effective the 1st of January 2016. The Presidential decree suspending the visa-free policy with Turkey is now in force. As noted by RSN Ankara, in response to Moscow's decision, Turkey is now refusing visas for Russian citizens. The bilateral visa-free agreement has been in place since 2011.
As previously reported, Russian authorities announced the abolition of the visa-free regime after a Russian Su-24 bomber was shot down by the Turkish Air …
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EU-Ukraine free trade agreement comes into force
The Free Trade Area between Ukraine and the European Union came into effect on Friday, January 1st. The accord is part of a broader EU Association Agreement that was signed in 2014, but the parties took a one-year pause on Russia's request for consultations with the country, which failed.
The agreement eliminates 97% of tariffs on Ukrainian goods and reduces the average tariff on Ukrainian exports from 7.6% to 0.5%, according to Ukraine's Ministry of Economic Development and Trade.
The free …
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Moscow to sue Kiev over $3 billion debt
The Russian Ministry of Finance has declared that Kiev is in a “state of default”, and that Moscow is taking legal action against Ukraine. The $3 billion Eurobond debt owed to Russia was loaned during the reign of former president Viktor Yanukovich in 2013 under the stipulation that Ukraine forgo any steps towards European integration, namely the ratification of the Ukraine–European Union Association Agreement.
Russian authorities have contacted the Law Debenture Corporation and initiated the …
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Russia demands prosecution of Syrian Turkman who shot Russian pilot
The Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has demanded that Turkey arrest the leader of an insurgent group of Syrian Turkmen, Alparslan Celik, and bring him to justice for the murder of Russian pilot Oleg Peshkov, as reported by Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, on the agency’s website.
In an interview with the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet, Celik confessed to participating in the shooting of the pilot after he ejected from his Su-24 bomber that was shot down by a Turkish F-16 …
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Russia to bolster defense in Armenia
Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and his Armenian counterpart Seyran Ohanyan signed an agreement on the creation of a Joint Regional Air Defense System in the Caucasian Collective Security Region.
“During the talks, we discussed a broad range of issues of cooperation in the military and military-technical spheres. The plans of bilateral cooperation of the defense ministries were signed for the next year,” Shoigu stated.
Armenia is home to two Russian military bases and 4,000-5 …