• Belarusian President Lukashenko urges CIS leaders to support new Ukrainian government

    Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko urged the leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to support the new Ukrainian government, reports the Belarusian BelTA news agency.

    "Recently, we spoke about Ukraine. I want to express my position because both the Russian President [Putin] and I are very concerned about the situation in Ukraine because it's happening so close to us. Speaking about the new Ukrainian government, I would like to urge you to support them. There is already …

  • Zelensky: Donbas autonomy unacceptable

    Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a press marathon that the bill on local self-governance in the separate Donetsk and Luhansk regions cannot imply autonomy for the Donbas, but certain humanitarian issues are open for discussion, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

    “As for the law on the special status – we cannot talk about autonomy in this law. The important thing now is to talk about what we can’t do, and not what we can do. I know that there are humanitarian issues there, we will also …

  • Kyiv: Extending old Russian gas transit contract would be pointless

    It would make no sense for Kyiv to extend the current gas transit contract with Moscow beyond January 1, 2020, said Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev while speaking at the Ukrainian Gas Forum, UNIAN reports.

    “It’s hard for me to imagine why the new gas transport system operator, why the Ukrainian party would be interested in extending the old contract,” he said.

    In Kobolyev’s opinion, there should be a new contract exclusively with the new operator and based solely on European regulations.

    In …

  • Russia sentences 72 year-old Donbas native to 12 years in prison for espionage

    72 year-old Volodymyr Morgunov, a native of the town of Milove in eastern Ukraine who more recently resided in Chertkovo, a Russian town on the border with Ukraine, has been found guilty of high treason.

    Morgunov pleaded guilty, Caucasian Knot news outlet reports, citing the regional office of Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) in the Rostov province.

    The pensioner was arrested in November 2018. Multiple SIM cards and two passports – one Russian one Ukrainian – were found in his house …

  • Putin to Head of Crimea: it’s our responsibility to ensure everyone has a job they like

    On October 9, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with newly appointed Russian governors, including the Head of the annexed Republic of Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov.

    Aksyonov reported on his Facebook page about the tasks that the Russian President sets before newly elected governors.

    "President Putin noted that to achieve big national development goals, it is necessary to make sure that every person has a job he likes and prosperity so that both large and small cities and rural areas have …