Contents tagged with Sanctions on Russia

  • Media: U.S. may introduce additional sanctions against Russian banks in September

    Sources in Russian diplomatic circles expect that the U.S. may impose additional sanctions against a number of Russian state-owned banks, reported the website gazeta.ru.

    “In September, a new package of restrictions will go into effect against the highest profile banks,” said the source of gazeta.ru, which has close ties to the Russian Foreign Ministry.

    According to the information provided, this action will be directed against the Bank of Russia, Rosselkhozbank, Gazprombank and other Russian …

  • Ukrainian politician: visit of the US Secretary of Defense to Ukraine could affect the situation in the Donbas and the Crimea

    President Petro Poroshenko and Defense Minister Stepan Poltorak’s meeting with the head of the Pentagon, James Mattis, could positively impact the future of sanctions against the Russian Federation, as well as the situation in the conflict zone in the Donbas and the Crimea, stated Deputy Minister for Temporary Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons George Tuka in a commentary to 112 Ukraine.

    According to Tuka, Mattis's visit to Ukraine is of a political nature, but according to …

  • Mail.Ru Group estimates $13 million losses due to blocking of its services on the territory of Ukraine

    Due to the blocking of VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, and other Mail.Ru Group services in Ukraine, the company will lose about 1.5% of its revenues in 2017, which is about 790 million to 809 million rubles or slightly over thirteen million dollars. This is reported in the company's report for the second quarter of 2017.

    "The blocking of our products in Ukraine in the second quarter had an adverse impact on our revenues. We estimate the negative impact at 1.5% of our total revenue in 2017. Despite …

  • Amid US sanctions Russia is trying to develop its own credit card payment system

    Russian Federation is intensifying development of the payment systems that would be independent from U.S. financial system as well as from using U.S. dollar as a base currency.

    Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov stated that an independent financial system “is becoming a vital need,” because otherwise Russia “will always be on the hook” of the United States of America.

    Russia has developed its own payment card called Mir (‘Peace’ or ‘World’ in translation from Russian), which is supposed to …

  • Turchynov: Russian and North Korean regimes are becoming more alike

    In his comment on the introduction of the new US anti-Russian sanctions, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) Oleksandr Turchynov said that he believes the regimes of Russia and North Korea are becoming more similar to each other, and that the world is beginning to understand this, as reported on the website of the National Security and Defense Council reports.

    "It is symbolic that in the Bill imposing sanctions, which was passed by the Congress, supported by the …

  • Kremlin: Russia may reconsider the disarmament agreements with the US because of the new sanctions

    Mikhail Ulyanov, Director of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control at the Russian Foreign Ministry admitted to Interfax that Russia could review disarmament agreements in response to new US sanctions.

    In answer to whether Moscow's retaliatory steps could touch upon the sphere of disarmament and the treaties which are in force in this area, the Foreign Ministry spokesman replied that "everything is possible in life." He recalled that in October 2016, Russia decided to suspend the …

  • Bill on sanctions against Russia signed by Trump envisages allocation of $30 million for Ukraine’s energy security

    The bill on the new sanctions against Russia, Iran and North Korea, signed by US President Donald Trump envisages the allocation of funds to support Ukraine’s energy security, the Ukrainian embassy to the US announced.

    “The legislative act envisages the creation of a fund to combat the Russian influence, and allocates $250 million to its budget for the 2018-2019 financial years. For the implementation of initiatives to support Ukraine’s energy security, an allocation of $30 million is …

  • Ukrainian Defense Ministry: Russia intends to escalate military action in the Donbas in response to American sanctions

    In response to the tightening of US sanctions as well as the US’s expected allocation of lethal weapons to Ukraine, Russia is planning a number of military and organizational events which will improve its abilities to escalate combat action in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine, LB.ua reports, citing a high-ranking source in the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

    “We are noting that alongside the increase in intensity of combat and, correspondingly, shipments of ammunition and weapons …

  • Russian Prime Minister calls new U.S. sanctions against Russia 'all-out trade war'

    Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev called President Donald Trump’s signing of sanctions against Russia an “all-out trade war.” 

    “First of all, any hope of improving our relations with the new U.S. administration is at an end. Secondly, an all-out trade war has been declared on Russia. Thirdly, the Trump administration has demonstrated complete impotence, in the most humiliating manner, in transferring executive powers to Congress. This changes the alignment of power in U.S. political …

  • German Foreign Minister calls new U.S. sanctions against Russia 'unlawful'

    German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel hopes that U.S. President Donald Trump will prevent his country from imposing energy sanctions on Russia in their current form, reported  German broadcasting company Deutsche Welle.

    “We ... are happy that the American president has not yet decided what he is going to do. He has the opportunity to discuss these sanctions with us, considering European interests,” Gabriel said.

    “I am in very close contact with my American counterpart,” the German foreign …