• Sweden has approved an agreement that will allow NATO troops to be placed in the country

    On Wednesday, the Swedish Parliament voted in favor of the so-called Host Nation Support Agreement (HNSA). This agreement may allow NATO to deploy its forces to the country. This was reported by The Local.

    Sweden signed the agreement with NATO in September 2014. The document allows the Alliance to transport helicopters, aircraft and ships through Swedish territory, but only at the invitation of Sweden.

    Due to the fact the agreement calls for changes in Swedish law to allow NATO military …

  • Inhabitants of Russian villages asked Obama to help them with gas supplies

    Valery Slesarev, an activist and resident of the town of Yegoryevsk, has visited the US Embassy in Moscow to ask US President Barack Obama to provide gas to several Russian villages.

    According to MK, Slesarev has been asking local authorities for nearly 10 years to provide several large villages in the area with gas. The majority of the residents are weak pensioners and war veterans who are forced to chop fallen trees for firewood.

    “What is happening in the city of Yegoryevsk is an outrage! …

  • Russian citizen sentenced in US for economic espionage

    On the 25th of May, the deputy representative of the Bank for Development and Foreign Economic Affairs, Evgeny Buryakov, received a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence for economic espionage while in the US. He was also fined $10,000 for the crime.

    According to AP news agency, the Russian received sensitive information concerning possible US sanctions against Russian banks between 2012 and 2015. Buryakov also received information on the development of alternative energy programs.

    Buryakov had …

  • Russian Eurobonds find little enthusiasm in western debt markets

    The Minister of Finance of the Russian Federation, Anton Siluanov, announced the successful placement of Russian Eurobonds in the amount of $1.75 million. According to him, 70 percent of the investment came from abroad although market analysts doubt that is the case.

    Moscow has returned to the Eurobond market for the first time after the introduction of the Western sanctions due to Russia's policy towards Ukraine. On Tuesday, May 25th, Russia proposed a ten-year bond for $1.75 million with a …

  • European Parliament sees no reason to lift sanctions on Russia following release of Savchenko

    The Member of the European Parliament for Alliance 90/The Greens, Rebecca Harms, stated in her interview with Deutsche Welle that the European Parliament sees no reason for lifting sanctions against the Russian Federation following the release of Ukrainian pilot, Nadiya Savchenko. According to Harms, the exchange of prisoners and hostages is only a part of Minsk Agreements and isn’t the most essential part.

    Harms noted that the restoration of Ukraine’s control over certain areas of Ukrainian- …