• Putin to attend the wedding of Austrian Minister of Foreign Affairs

    Russian President Vladimir Putin intends to attend the wedding of the Minister of Foreign affairs of Austria, reported Austrian media outlets on August 15th. Dmitry Peskov, a representative for the Russian leader also confirmed this intention.

    He noted that Putin will “drop by” the wedding “on the way to Berlin.” Talks between the Russian President and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are planned there.

    The Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl is marrying a financier and entrepreneur …

  • Belarusian President on cabinet reshuffle spree

    During a recent government session, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko ordered that suggestions be put forward for the replacement of the country’s current office holders, local news agency BelTA reports.

    According to the head of state, the ministers have not been following his orders due to “blasé attitudes”.

    “And so, this week I am expecting proposals on the replacement of all the government leaders, all the tops from the staff reserve which I have formed,” Lukashenko demanded, “ …

  • Russia's Gazprom seeks termination of Nord Stream 2 case in Poland

    Russian gas conglomerate Gazprom filed objections to the Polish antimonopoly body UOKiK and petitioned the termination of the antimonopoly investigation procedure, the Russian company reported in its quarterly report.

    According to the document, on April 30, 2018, Gazprom received notification from the Polish antimonopoly body UOKiK , which launched an antimonopoly investigation against the stakeholders of the Nord Stream 2 project, including Gazprom.

    According to UOKiK, the financial …

  • Media: Russian banks stop issuing Visa and MasterCard in Crimea

    Crimea-based Genbank (part of the Bank of Russia group) announced last week that its support of the Visa and MasterCard payment systems would end as of August 14. It was the last bank in Crimea to issue the cards of the international payment systems, the BBC Russian service notes.

    As of Tuesday, August 14, all Visa and MasterCard operations will no longer work. A Genbank call center employee clarified to Reuters in a phone call that the decision was made in connection with the sanctions placed …

  • US not pulling out of Open Skies Treaty

    Washington is not stopping its involvement in the Treaty on Open Skies (TOS), and intends to remain committed to the agreement, a US State Department representative told TASS.

    “The United States is not suspending its participation in the TOS. On the contrary, the US remains committed to the continued implementation of the treaty, as demonstrated by the authorization for the recapitalization of our Open Skies aircraft and our ongoing efforts to modernize our fleet,” the official commented.

    The …