• Kremlin denies presence of Russian soldiers in Libya

    There are no Russian troops in Libya, said Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday, commenting on a statement by Turkish President Recep Erdogan that Moscow is providing mercenaries to Khalifa Haftar’s army, which is laying siege to Tripoli.

    “Vladimir Putin, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Armed Forces, has not sent troops to Libya, he has not given any orders in this regard,” Interfax cites Peskov as saying.

    When asked to comment on the media reports on the death of a Russian …

  • Samsung first company to agree to pre-install Russian software on smartphones

    Samsung Electronics has said that it is willing to comply with the Russian legal requirement to pre-install Russian software on smartphones and computers starting on July 1, Radio Sputnik reports.

    “Samsung Electronics will be ready to comply with the requirements of Russian law laid down by the regulator, and to adapt the company’s activity in accordance with the adopted rulings. The amendments to the law will not affect the company’s plans to continue operating in Russia,” the company’s press …

  • Lavrov: Russia ready to pull out of April Normandy summit

    Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that Russia is ready to pull out of the Normandy Format summit scheduled for April. He said that the date of the next summit has not been finalized, RBC news agency reports.

    “When we hear our Normandy Format colleagues speaking about April as the date for convening the summit, it’s their wishes, their ideas that they are voicing. But not more than that,” said Lavrov on Monday, February 17.

    He added that there are currently “no reasons to hold a …

  • US not planning to appoint special representative for Donbas

    Former US ambassador to Ukraine (2003-2006) John Herbst told Radio NV in an interview that he considers it unlikely that the US will appoint a special representative for the Donbas.

    “Volker is a very talented diplomat… and the fact that he has left is a certain loss. As far as I know, they have decided not to replace him, there will not be a new extraordinary ambassador for this matter – not for Ukraine, but for Donbas affairs,” said Herbst.

    With respect to the appointment of a new US …

  • Ukraine suspends prosecutors investigating MH17 case

    All of the Ukrainian prosecutors who had been investigating the MH17 catastrophe have been suspended from work as part of departmental reforms, the Dutch newspaper NRC Next reports, citing one of the dismissed prosecutors.

    A total of six prosecutors were involved in the investigation on Ukraine’s behalf, two of them as part of the Joint Investigation Team. In recent months, the JIT has not had a single participant from Ukraine.

    Commenting on the dismissal of the prosecutors, Ukrainian Foreign …