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 …

Russian Prime Minister Dimitry Medvedev signed a decree detailing the discounted price of natural gas shipments from Russia to Ukraine. The tariff rates will remain the same until March 31, 2016. The documentation was posted on the official legal information web portal on Friday, January 1st.

The decree provides a formula that makes it possible to calculate the rate of fees on imports of low-carbon, “blue fuel” gas to Ukraine.

Most economists agree that, based on the contract price of gas at …

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 …

The Ukrainian Army and the pro-Russian separatists in Eastern Ukraine have accused each other of violating the "Christmas Truce" on January 1st.

The truce came into force on December 22nd and was mutually agreed upon by the opposing forces. In the last few days, according to the Ukrainian command, the Ukrainian Army’s position was shelled 22 times with mortars and grenade launchers. Government troops have suffered no casualties yet.

Separatists reported that one person was killed in their …

A Reuters report on information taken from public records about the government and the Sibur Company indicates that Russian President Vladimir Putin's son-in-law has received government funds for a lucrative construction project.

33-year-old Kirill Shamalov owns one fifth of the largest petrochemical company in Russia, Sibur Gas Processing and Petrochemicals. In December, Sibur received funds from the National Welfare Fund (NWF) for the construction of a large complex in the Tyumen region near …

It appears as though Moscow will end a contract with Kiev that ensures the delivery of electricity to the Crimea. Having illegally annexed the peninsula in early 2014, Russia insists that Ukraine remove any language from the contact that stipulates that the Crimea is part of Ukrainian territory. Kiev is determined not to give in.

Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov asserted that if Ukraine does not agree to change the wording, Russia is most likely to abandon the contract. "It can be assumed …

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 …

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 …