Contents tagged with Europe
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Russia not getting paid for arms shipments
Russia has started making arms shipments without receiving payment due to the US sanctions that prohibit dollar transactions for Russia’s defense-related export company, Rosoboronexport, finanz.ru reports.
The Russian Federal Customs Service’s (FCS) final statistics for 2018 appear to indicate that some of Russia’s weapons are being sold abroad for free, according to a review by Raiffeisen Bank analysts.
By the end of the year, Russia’s export revenue had grown by 25.8% to $443 billion, which …
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Kremlin: Russia is ready to continue gas transit through Ukraine on its own terms
Russia is ready to continue the transit of gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine, stated the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Alexander Pankin in an interview with RIA Novosti. “We are ready to continue Ukrainian transit, but under the conditions we need,” explained Pankin. At the same time, according to him, there is "a whole range of elements that Ukrainians cannot go for yet", as well as "the uncertainty of Ukraine itself regarding its gas-transport system, its successor, consortium, and …
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World Bank: Ukraine will need 50 years to reach Poland’s economic level
According to the World Bank’s vice president for Europe and Central Asia, Cyril Muller, without necessary reforms and having current GDP growth rates, Ukraine will need 50 years to reach Poland’s current economic level, reported Economichna Pravda with reference to a World Bank study on the economic development of Ukraine.
According to Muller, in 2017 the total net worth of the three richest individuals in Ukraine exceeded 6% of Ukraine’s GDP.
“It is almost twice as much as in Russia and …
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Berlin: German fighter aircraft intercepted Russian warplanes over the Baltic thirty times over pas six months
According to Deutsche Welle, during a visit to the Bundeswehr soldiers stationed at the Estonian Emari airbase as part of a NATO mission, German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen reported that German fighters scrambled to intercept Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea thirty times in six months.
"This large number indicates that the presence of German soldiers here is very important," said the Minister. 160 Bundeswehr soldiers and four German Eurofighter planes are stationed in Estonian …
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Swedish experts: Moscow is preparing for full-scale war
The Swedish National Defense Research Institute (FOI) stated that the Russian army is being prepared for participation in large-scale military requirements. They came to this opinion analyzing the military exercises conducted in Russia from 2009-2017.
The experts note that the Russian Federation armed forces, which had previously been involved only in local conflicts began to prepare for continuous regional wars starting back in 2009.
According to FOI, Russia considers NATO or the Chinese …
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Ukrainian Parliament calls on NATO to provide Ukraine with Membership Action Plan
The Ukrainian Verkhovna Rada asked NATO member countries to support Ukraine's intention to become a member of the Alliance and to start a formal dialogue on a Membership Action Plan at the NATO Summit in London in December 2019, Interfax-Ukraine reports. The draft decision and request were supported by 243 People's Deputies at the plenary meeting of the Parliament on Thursday.
"We are calling on the heads of NATO member states to approve... the given decision at the anniversary Summit of the …
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Turkey blocks Russian oil takers en route to Europe
Shipments of Russian oil to Europe through the Black Sea and Mediterranean Sea continue to face difficulties due to Turkey’s decision to change the rules for ships passing through the Bosporus and the Dardanelles, finanz.ru reports.
The congestion of Russian oil tankers and grain carriers departing from Novorossiysk keeps growing, and is reaching all-time records.
On 6 February, 55 ships were waiting for permission to enter the Turkish straits, including 26 Aframax-class and 21 Suezmax-class …
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Ukraine joins EU sanctions against Russia
According to the message published on European Council’s website, Montenegro, Albania, Norway and Ukraine joined the Council’s December decision to extend economic sanctions against Russia.
“The European Council adopted decision 2018/2078 on December 21, 2018 (Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy: “On restrictive measures in view of Russia's actions destabilizing the situation in Ukraine”). The Council decision prolongs the restrictive measures for a further six months, until July 31 …
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OSCE puts forward two Russians as observers for Ukraine’s elections
The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has proposed to include two Russian citizens in the list of observers for Ukraine’s presidential elections on 31 March 2019, Ukrinform reports, citing a diplomatic source.
“The OSCE’s Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights has included two Russian citizens in its list of the Mission’s long-term observers to observe the elections, despite the fact that, in the invitation to participate in observation, Ukraine’s Foreign …
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Polish Foreign Minister: Warsaw supports deployment of US nuclear missiles in Europe
The Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jacek Czaputowicz, said in an interview with Spiegel that Warsaw supports the deployment of US nuclear missiles in Europe.
“Our European interests include the deployment of American military and nuclear missiles on this continent,” stated Czaputowicz.
In addition, he did not exclude the possibility that NATO nuclear missiles will be deployed in Poland.
“We definitely don’t want this. However, everything depends on how Russia behaves in the future and …