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US Withdraws Accreditation of 5 Honorary Russian Consulates
The United States closed five Honorary Russian Consulates in response to the closing of the American Center in Moscow, Interfax reported, referencing the Press Secretary of the Embassy of the USA to Russia, William Stevenson, on Friday, January 22th.
"This action is taken in response to the continued Russian interference in our diplomatic consular activities in Russia" the American Embassy stated.
The US withdrew accreditation from five of the six Honorary Consulates in the USA: in California, …
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New Ukrainian embargo on Russian goods to come into force in February
An extended embargo on newly listed banned goods from Russia will take effect in early February as stated in the Ukrainian Cabinet of Ministers decision № 28 from 20 January. Added to the extended list of banned goods approved on December 30th 2015 were onions, green tea, prepared or preserved fish, white chocolate, pellets, candies containing alcohol, chewing gum, marmalade and jelly, corn flakes, biscuits and crisp breads, soya and tomato sauce (ketchup).It is worth noting that the list of …
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Kiev Fines Gazprom $3.4 Billion
The Antimonopoly Committee of Ukraine (AMCU) fined Gazprom 85 billion Hryvnia (around 3.4 billion dollars) for an abuse of dominance in the gas transit market in Ukraine, as reported on 22 January, by the head of AMCU, Yuriy Terentyev. “The decision has just been made concerning the abuse of the dominant position in the market by the monopoly gas producer Gazprom. The amount of the fine is 85 billion Hryvnia," wrote Terentyev on his Facebook page. Yaroslav Teklyuk, Director for Legal and …
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Lavrov, Kerry discuss Syrian peace talks
US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov have spoken over the phone about the upcoming UN-sponsored Syrian peace talks in Geneva. The talks will be the largest effort yet to find a peaceful solution to the Syrian Civil War that has raged for almost 5 years.
Kerry’s call to Lavrov comes three days after a face-to-face meeting between the two in Zurich, following which a joint statement was released saying "particular attention was given to the need to form a …
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Russian Justice Ministry defines ‘political activity’ to amend ‘Foreign Agent Law’
In 2012, the Russian State Duma adopted a law requiring all nongovernmental organizations engaged in political activity that receive funding from abroad to register as “foreign agents” with the Ministry of Justice, a designation that severely hinders an NGO's ability to operate in the Russian Federation. While the law initially provided a vague definition of "political activity", the Ministry of Justice adopted a new amendment on Friday defining it as any work in the sphere of federal or …