• Russia Refuses to Participate in PACE January Session

    TASS reported that Russia is refusing to participate in the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE). A representative of the Agency explained that the period for providing the lists of participants of each national delegation to the PACE expired on Friday. It was reported that Russia did not provide the required list . “This is a refusal to participate in the January session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE),” a well-informed …

  • Russia and the West: a new Cold War?

    Many experts believe that this week’s announcement that Russia will station three new divisions along the western border is one step closer to a new Cold War. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu stated that the strengthening of the country’s western flank is “the most important task” for the Russian army in the coming year. The announcement is a chain in a series of events that is reminiscent of what many hoped would be a bygone era.

    Shoigu’s words come amidst Tallinn's call to create …

  • US company to supply Ukraine with integrated surveillance system

    The administration of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the American company Worldwide Aeros Corp signed an agreement that will see the delivery of integrated surveillance systems to Ukrainian border crossings. The press service of the Cabinet of Ministers reported that the first monitoring system is currently on its way.

    Kiev hopes to stop the flow of fighters and weapons entering the warzone in eastern Ukraine from Russia. The two countries share a 2,300 km (1,426 mile) border, …

  • Moscow and Kiev Disagree On Sequence of Proposed Peace Plan in Donbas

    Boris Gryzlov, the representative of Russia in the Trilateral Contact Group on the settlement of the situation in the Donbass visited Kiev. Unfortunately, Gryzlov’s visit yielded no results. There remain serious differences in opinions between Moscow and Kiev about the how the war should end. This information was relayed by Apostrophe from a source in one of the European observation missions in Ukraine.

    According to the source, Gryzlov has brought President Vladimir Putin's proposal to Kiev. …

  • Russia Prepared To Reduce Sanctions Against Turkey To Complete World Cup Projects

    The Kremlin is ready to reduce sanctions against Turkish construction companies in order to complete construction projects for the World Cup Championship that is to be held in the Russian Federation in 2018. The reduction of sanctions can affect about 30 Turkish construction companies. According to Kommersant, the total cost of these works is estimated at 60 billion rubles (approximately $784 million).

    Moreover, developers can be allowed to stay in Russia under the condition that they will …

  • Russian Agriculture Minister Denied German Visa

    The Russian Minister of Agriculture was denied a German visa. Alexander Tkachev, who was going to visit the agricultural exhibition in Berlin, was denied an entry visa because at the time of his request, he was listed on an EU sanctions list. As a result, the Ministry said that Russia no longer considers it possible for them to participate in the event.

    "Russia was going to take part in the World Food and Agricultural Exhibition at Green Week 2016, but due to the fact that the German Foreign …

  • Two Czech Deputies Visit Donetsk, Spark Outrage

    On January 14th, two Deputies, Communists of the Czech Republic, Zdenek Ondracek and Stanislav Markovic travelled from Russian Federation territory to an area in Donetsk controlled by illegal armed groups.

    The Foreign Ministry released a statement on Friday that expressed its vehement protest at the illegal entry of the two Czechs into the territory of Ukraine as they visited the temporarily occupied Donetsk region. The Foreign Ministry pointed out that this trip was not coordinated with …

  • Two Ukrainian Citizens Freed from Captivity in Libya; Four still Held

    The head of the Consular Services Department of the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Evgeny Ignatovsky, reported that armed militants released two Ukrainian prisoners but continue to hold four Ukrainian citizens hostage in Libya.

    “Six Ukrainian citizens were being held captive in Libya. Today, two of these Ukrainian citizens are coming back to Ukraine. The Court established that they are innocent of the acts of which they were accused and they have been released from detention. Currently, …

  • Authorities in Russia's Komi Republic accused of ordering destruction of books

    Russian authorities in the Northern Republic of Komi have been accused of ordering the destruction of dozens of books and the removal of hundreds of others from university libraries in the region on the grounds that they contain “elements alien to Russian ideology and form a distorted perception of the country's history.” The books, the majority of which were humanities textbooks, were published with money from the Soros Foundation, a philanthropic organization which in November of 2015 was …

  • Ukraine Launches Demonstration of New Silk Road, Bypassing Russia

    The Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Aivaras Abromavičius, wrote on his Facebook page that the first demonstration cargo train departed from Illichivsk via a the Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-China (through the Caspian and Black Seas) route.

    “The cargo train is running on the Ukraine-Georgia-Azerbaijan-Kazakhstan-China route. This demonstration cargo train still has to resolve technical and logistical issues, and work out other technical aspects, which can arise. …