Contents tagged with Ukraine

  • German private detective is suspected of contacts with the perpetrators of MH17 downing

    A German private detective was subject to search and seizure as part of the investigation into the downing of Malaysian Airlines flight MH17 that happened two years ago in the Donbas. Deutsche Welle reported on Wednesday that the detective allegedly contacted the perpetrators of the crash.

    According to the representative of the Prosecutor General's Office of the Netherlands, Wim de Bruin, investigators searched the detective's apartment in the German town of Bad Schwartau and a safe-deposit …

  • Media: Financing of the Kerch Strait Bridge construction has been suspended

    The financing of the Kerch Strait Bridge construction, conducted by Arkady Rotenberg's Stroygazmontazh LLC (SGM Group), is suspended, as reported by Forbes citing a letter from the head of the contracting company, Andrey Kirilenko, to the Russian Ministry of Transport.

    The letter states that the last time Stroygazmontazh received money for the construction of the bridge was in December 2015. The payment of nearly 65.5 billion rubles scheduled for 2016 has not been made yet, according to the …

  • Estonian Prime Minister: Ukraine and Georgia should get visa-free regime as soon as possible

    Ukraine and Georgia have fulfilled all of the requirements to liberalize their visa regime with EU countries. They should now be allowed a visa-free regime without any additional conditions, as stated by Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas at a meeting with the Prime Minister of Latvia, Māris Kučinskis.

    “Georgia and Ukraine have met the established criteria and should therefore receive a visa-free regime as soon as possible. The credibility of, and trust to, the EU are at stake,” Rõivas said. …

  • Mogherini: The EU doesn’t recognize the annexation of Crimea

    Speaking at the meeting of the UN Security Council that took place on the 6th of June, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, broached the topic of the annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol. The UN press service reported Mogherini as saying that the cessation of the Ukrainian conflict is one of the main priorities of the European Union.

    “The European Union will continue to advocate for the territorial integrity of Ukraine and won’t …

  • Nuland: Sanctions against Russia are a powerful tool

    US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said that economic sanctions continue to be a powerful tool against Russia. According to her, these measures have disrupted Russia’s attempts to take more territory in eastern Ukraine, Radio Svoboda reported.

    "We have deterred further land grabs in Ukraine, and that was a real risk when we first started with sanctions - that they would try to run all the way to Kiev and Kharkov," Nuland said.

    "I will tell you …

  • OSCE: The situation in the Donbas continues to deteriorate

    According to the Principal Deputy Chief Monitor of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, the situation in the Donbas continues to deteriorate, especially in Avdiivka, Yasynuvata and the Donetsk Airport, Ukrainskaya Pravda reported.

    Hug stated that many people in these areas are often times forced to seek shelter in cellars and basements to escape the exchange of fire.

    In other areas of eastern Ukraine, however, the situation has improved, but it still cannot be …

  • Russian pilots conduct large-scale exercises in Crimea

    The large-scale flying and tactical exercises of the Aviation of the Southern Military District (SMD) of the Russian Armed Forces have started in the Russian annexed Crimea, the press service of the Russian military agency reported. The exercises started on the 7th of June in the Rostov region of the Russian Federation.

    “The helicopter regiment crews will work on detection and recognition of different ground targets and low-flying, low-speed aircraft, as well as the destruction of these …

  • Media: The Netherlands wants to modify the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement

    According to the Austrian newspaper, Die Presse, citing Dutch diplomats, the Government of the Netherlands wants to modify certain provisions of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement. The Dutch Government intended to take such a step after the referendum in April in which the Dutch voted against the ratification of the Association Agreement.

    "The government in The Hague prefers quiet diplomacy behind the scenes. And now, when the Netherlands is holding the EU Presidency they have an opportunity …

  • Belarus wants to resume importing Ukrainian power

    Ukraine’s Minister of Energy and Coal Industry, Ihor Nasalik, has discussed the possibility of exporting electricity to Belarus once again with the Deputy Energy Minister of Belarus, Leonid Shenets. This was reported by the press service of the Ukrainian Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry.

    The export of electricity from Ukraine to Belarus was halted in November 2014.

    Belarus has proposed the restoration of Ukrainian-Belarusian working group on energy. This would be within the framework of …

  • Turkey considers using Ukrainian company to aid construction of nuclear power plant

    A group of Turkish nuclear energy experts toured the facilities of the unconventional equipment and pipes plant, Atomenergomash, which is a separate division of EnergoAtom, the National Nuclear Energy Generating Company of Ukraine.

    According to Energoatom’s press service, the purpose of the visit of the Turkish delegation was to explore the prospects of involving the Ukrainian company in the construction of Akkuyu nuclear power plant in Turkey.

    "The Turkish experts were also interested in …