Contents tagged with State Duma

  • Japanese media names Japan’s conditions for peace treaty with Russia

    Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe will consider the possibility of signing a peace treaty with Russia if Russia guarantees to give Japan the islands of Shikotan and Habomai, the Kyodo news agency reports, citing sources in the Japanese government. According to the sources, the transfer of the islands Iturup and Kunashir appears unrealistic at present. They note that, according to Abe’s plan, the islands Shikotan and Habomai must be handed over to Japan de facto. 

    Tokyo considers the Kuril …

  • Kremlin sees no obstacles for ‘sovereign internet’ in Russia

    The Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media or MinComSvyaz “sees no obstacles” for the draft law on “sovereign Runet [ Russian internet],” stated MinComSvyaz Deputy Minister Oleg Ivanov at the expanded session of the State Duma Committee on information policy, Kommersant reports. 

    “It is clear that the issue is relatively new and innovative but a broader discussion at least on second reading is needed. For now, we do not see any comments that would prevent us …

  • Russia refuses to pay contributions to the Council of Europe

    After consultations with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Liliane Maury Pasquier in Geneva, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Pyotr Tolstoy stated that Russia will not pay contributions to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe or PACE in 2019, TASS reports.

    "PACE will not receive Russian contributions. Russia is not going to buy tickets to a movie that we won’t watch,” Tolstoy stated. He also opposed the intentions of the Russian delegation to …

  • Moscow: There will be no referendum in Russia on accession of Kuril Islands to Japan

    There will be no referendums or polls in the Kuril Islands about incorporating the islands into Japan, member of the Duma Committee on International Affairs Anton Morozov told RIA Novosti. 

    Earlier, in an interview with the Asahi TV channel, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Japan intends to incorporate the Southern Kuril Islands. However, Japan's position on the territorial dispute with Russia does not imply the eviction of Russians living there. 

    “The Russian Federation has a …

  • Kremlin starts to prepare population for changes to Russian Constitution 

    Having carried out its unpopular pension reform, the Russian government is now starting to prepare the population for changes to the Constitution, finanz.ru reports. 

    Following the example set by the head of the Constitutional Court, State Duma Chairman Vyacheslav Volodin has proposed a reassessment of the relevancy of the Constitution’s provisions. 

    In its current form, the Constitution is “not dogma,” Volodin said in the Kremlin at a meeting with other MPs and President Vladimir Putin.  …

  • Russian State Duma proposes a constitutional review to Putin 

    Russian President Vladimir Putin met with the leadership of the State Duma and Federation Council. Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin proposed to him that the Russian Constitution needed an overhaul and that legal experts should be called in to evaluate its relevance to the current reality. 

    “25 years ago is the time when such questions could have be answered,” TASS cites Volodin as saying. The Deputy claimed that judges from the Constitutional Court, scholars in the Constitutional Right and …

  • Russian border guards who seized Ukrainian ships will receive an award

    A chairman for the Russian State Duma, Vyacheslav Volodin, stated that the Russian Parliament is preparing a proposal to award the border guards who attacked and seized Ukrainian ships in neutral waters near the Kerch Strait on November 25th.

    “For our part, we requested that the committee on security and anti-corruption consider rewarding border guards involved in preventing a violation of our borders and protecting the law,” reports Interfax quoting Volodin. Suggestions must be ready for the …

  • Putin introduces bill allowing Central bank to look for foreign accounts of Russian officials

    On Wednesday, October 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin submitted a bill to the State Duma allowing General Prosecutor’s Office to work with the authorities of foreign countries to verify compliance with anti-corruption restrictions against Russian officials. The decree was published on the Russian Duma electronic database website.

    Russian legislation prohibits high-ranking deputies, civil servants, officials and senators from opening and holding accounts and deposits in foreign banks, or …

  • Russia accuses Ukraine of escalating the situation in the Donbas

    On October 18, the State Duma of the Russian Federation adopted a statement on the aggravated situation in Ukraine.

     In this small document in several paragraphs, Ukraine is accused of killing the leader of the so called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Alexander Zakharchenko, tearing apart Orthodoxy, ignoring the "will of the fraternal Russian and Ukrainian peoples” in connection with the decision to terminate the Friendship Treaty and, in general, anti-Russian politics.

    “The State Duma is …

  • Russia considers deploying nuclear weapons in Syria

    The United States has crossed a “red line” in its relations with Russia, and the President should consider an asymmetric response – terminating the treaties with Washington on nuclear missiles, and deploying tactical nuclear weapons abroad, e.g. in Syria, stated  by Vladimir Gutenev, first deputy chairman of the Russian State Duma committee on economic policy, innovative development and entrepreneurship, to TASS.

    According to the MP, such a step would “not only offset sanctions, but also deal …