Contents tagged with Russia

  • Russian arms deals exceed $50 billion

    The export contracts of Russian weapons accounts to more than $54 billion  the Deputy Director of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation of the Russian Federation, Anatoly Punchuk, said in an interview with the news agency RIA Novosti. "As for the orders portfolio, today it is over $54 billion," Punchuk said.

    As reported, after the operation in Syria, Russia received many requests to sell military equipment. 

    Algeria intends to buy 12 Su-34 frontline bombers and 10 Su-35C. …

  • Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs calls for stronger sanctions against Russia

    The Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Stéphane Dion, stated that Ottawa favors maintaining and strengthening sanctions against Russia, Maclean’s reported. Speaking at the opening conference at the University of Ottawa in Canada, the Minister reported about the effectiveness of sanctions against Russia due to the fact that a large number of countries supported the sanctions.

    “Sanctions, imposed against Russia because of the situation in Ukraine, are effective only because a large number of …

  • Latvia blocks website of Russian news agency 'Sputnik'

    Authorities in Latvia called the agency an instrument of Russian propaganda and misinformation. The decision to block the website is related to sanctions imposed on Russia by the European Union.

    Latvia denied the agency the right to use the domain .lv for the news portal Sputnik Latvia, as reported by internet portal Delfi on March 29th. As reflected in the official letter received by the management of Sputnik Latvia on behalf of the NIC registrar, "registration of the domain name sputniknews. …

  • Washington has ruled out exchanging Russians in US prisons for Savchenko

    Washington is not considering the possibility of exchanging sentenced Ukrainian Pilot, Nadiya Savchenko, for Russians convicted by the United States."We do not consider this possibility," the spokesman for the US Embassy in Moscow, Will Stevens, told RBC. The US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt, in turn, has called reports of such talks "ridiculous," RIA Novosti reported. Earlier, Interfax, citing informed sources, reported that Moscow is negotiating the exchange of Savchenko for a group …

  • Russian Defense Ministry to award medals to those who participated in the Syrian operation

    The Ministry of Defense of Russia plans to give medals to the participants of the military operation in Syria. To this end, the Defense Ministry has announced its plan to purchase more than 10,000 medals according to the procurement website of the Russian Federation. It is noted that the Ministry of Defense is willing to pay more than 2 million rubles ($29,000) for this order.

    Russia has conducted airstrikes in Syria since the 30th of September, 2015.

    As previously reported, Russian bombers …

  • Japan criticizes Russia's decision to place armaments on Kuril Islands

    Japan expressed concern about the statement made by Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu about the plans to deploy missile systems on the Kuril Islands. "We informed the Russian party through diplomatic channels that we are concerned about the statement of the Head of the Defense Ministry," the Chief Cabinet Secretary of Japan, Suga Yoshihide, said on Monday. According to him, Tokyo made it clear to Moscow that the strengthening of the Russian military infrastructure within the disputed …

  • Latvia has built the first 3 km of a fence along the border with Russia

    The representative of the State Border Guard of Latvia, Evgenia Poznyak, stated that the first three kilometers of a fence has been built along the Latvian-Russian border, Leta reported. The fence is three meters high and was built on the territory of the Ludza Border Guard Service.

    The Ludza region borders with the Pskov region of Russia and the Vitebsk region of Belarus. Latvian authorities are planning to complete the construction of the fence in four years. The building of the fence was …

  • Kerry: Russia is not an ally of the US in Syria, though it helps Washington in other areas

    Russia has not strengthened its position in the Middle East after the intervention in Syria, as stated by the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in an interview with CBS that was conducted on Sunday, March 27, 2016. In his opinion, this idea is "ludicrous."

    Kerry stressed that Russia is not a US ally in Syria, although it helps Washington with other aspects that are in the "strategic interests" of the United States. In particular, according to him, Russia helped with Iran's nuclear agreement …

  • NATO jets follow Russian Defense Minister's plane over Baltic Sea

    NATO fighter aircraft followed a plane carrying Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu on his way to the Kaliningrad region, TASS reported.

    Shoygu’s plane flew over international waters with an escort of Russian Su-27 naval aviation fighters, and was followed by NATO Eurofighter Typhoons at a distance of approximately two kilometers.

    According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, Shoygu travelled to Kaliningrad in order to inspect the Chkalovsk airfield as well as the Admiral F. F. Ushakov …

  • US Embassy in Moscow discloses information about the CIA Director's visit to Russia earlier this month

    A spokesman for the US Embassy in Russia, William Stevens, discussed CIA Director John Brennan’s visit to Moscow, on Monday, March 28th, RIA Novosti reported.

    According to the embassy spokesman, Brennan discussed the observance of the truce in Syria with Russian authorities and stressed the necessity of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad leaving his post.

    "Director Brennan visited Moscow in early March to communicate to Russian officials the importance for Russia and the Assad regime to adhere …