Contents tagged with Kremlin
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Syrian Ambassador to Russia: Assad will not visit annexed Crimea
Syrian President Bashar Assad is unlikely to attend the Yalta International Economic Forum in April, stated Syrian Ambassador to Moscow Riyad Haddad, as quoted by Russian media.
The forum will be held on April 17-20.
“I don't think he [Assad] will participate in the forum,” Haddad told reporters.
Andrei Nazarov, the co-chairman of the forum’s organizing committee, previously stated that Bashar Assad and the French right-wing leader Marine Le Pen will attend the Yalta International Economic …
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Kremlin: there are no prospects for normalizing relations with the US
Russian presidential aide Yuri Ushakov stated that there are no prospects for normalizing the relationship with the US for now, reports Interfax-Ukraine.
“In my opinion, everything is already bad. Prospects are not being considered for now,” said Ushakov responding to a question if a new series of sanctions will worsen Russian-American relations, or things can’t get worse.
He added that Moscow’s reaction to the possibility of new American sanctions would follow after analysis.
“We will …
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Russia’s biggest American investor placed under 2 month arrest in Moscow
Russia’s legal system continues to dampen the country’s already troubled investment climate.
Michael Calvey, founder of Baring Vostok, the largest direct investment fund in Russia with more than 80 projects and $3 billion in capital invested in the Russian economy, was arrested by the Basmanny District Court of Moscow on Saturday and sent to a pre-trial detention center for two months.
A graduate of the University of Oklahoma and the London School of Economics and Political Science, Calvey …
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Russia to spend as much on road to China as on education
The Russian government intends to spend a similar amount on building a road to China as it will on education, according to official documents on 12 national projects and their costs over the next six years, finanz.ru reports. The country plans to spend 784.5 billion rubles (around $12 billion) on the national “Education” project, and 655 billion rubles ($10 billion) on the project “Europe – Western China”.
The Kremlin estimated its total expenditure on national projects at nearly 26 trillion …
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Kremlin promises to punish Facebook and Twitter if they do not move users' data to Russia
By the end of February, the Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media (Roskomandzor) will officially require Facebook and Twitter to localize the databases of Russian users in Russia. If Facebook and Twitter refuse to do so, they “will be punished”, Alexander Zharov, the head of Roskomandzor, told reporters.
As reported by Interfax, Zharov said that they would make a decision on Twitter or Facebook on February 21 and sign relevant protocols. The …
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Kremlin: Russia will not accept responsibility for MH17 air disaster
The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Maria Zakharova, stated that during the course of future consultations regarding the investigation of the MH17 flight crash in eastern Ukraine in 2014, Russia does not intend to admit its responsibility for the downing of the aircraft.
According to her, the focus of the consultations that are soon to be held in Vienna will not be Russia's recognition of the legal responsibility for the downing of the aircraft.
According to the …
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Kremlin: Russia is ready to continue gas transit through Ukraine on its own terms
Russia is ready to continue the transit of gas supplies to Europe through Ukraine, stated the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Alexander Pankin in an interview with RIA Novosti. “We are ready to continue Ukrainian transit, but under the conditions we need,” explained Pankin. At the same time, according to him, there is "a whole range of elements that Ukrainians cannot go for yet", as well as "the uncertainty of Ukraine itself regarding its gas-transport system, its successor, consortium, and …
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Russian court sentences a Jehovah's Witness to six years in prison
On Wednesday, a Russian court found a Jehovah's Witness guilty of extremism and sentenced him to six years in prison, stated a representative of the Christian Denomination.
The United States and the European Union called the case of Danish citizen Dennis Christensen “a litmus test” for religious freedom in Russia and a new spiral in the intensifying confrontation with the West.
Christensen, the first Jehovah’s Witness arrested for extremism in Russia, pleaded not guilty.
“Unfortunately, this …
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Media: Pro-Iranian troops continue to battle with pro-Russian forces in Syria
Units of the Syrian army loyal to Iran battled with the units loyal to Russia in Hama province, reported the Turkish agency Anadolu, citing well-informed sources in Syria.
According to Anadolu’s source, the Fourth Division of the Syrian army under the patronage of Iran retook al-Rasif village from the Qawat Al-Nimr or Tiger Forces division that is sponsored by Russia. 70 soldiers died on both sides in the battle for al-Rasif. Local residents are afraid that the conflict can spread to the …
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Russian senator arrested on double murder charges
During a plenary session of Russia’s Federation Council on Wednesday, Rauf Arashukov, the youngest senator in Russian history, was arrested on charges of organizing contract killings and other serious crimes.
Law enforcement blocked the entrance to the hall and made the press leave, after which Prosecutor General Yury Chaika and Alexander Bastrykin, head of the Investigative Committee, entered the hall and read out the order to remove Arashukov’s parliamentary immunity.
Arashukov attempted to …