Klara Kołodziejska-Połtyn, president of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities in Poland, and Chief Polish Rabbi Michael Schudrich have responded to a statement by Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which he called the Polish diplomat Józef Lipski, who worked in Nazi Germany, an “anti-Semitic swine”. Extracts from their comments were published by the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita.

Kołodziejska-Połtyn and Schudrich called Putin’s statements “outrageous”. “Recently Russian President …

New Ukrainian national gas transit company, Operator of Gas Transit System of Ukraine (GTS), announced the beginning of the transit of Russian gas to the European Union under a new contract with Gazprom. The first cubic meters of gas have already been transported to the EU, reads the company's message on Facebook.

The head of the company Sergey Makogon, in turn, said that the GTS has started working on a regular schedule and transports gas under the signed agreements. "We have proved that we …

Ukrainians have rallied in a number of cities across Ukraine on what would have been the 111th birthday of one of the ideologists of the Ukrainian nationalist movement.

The traditional torchlight procession on the 111th birthday of Stepan Bandera involved, according to various estimates, between one and several thousand nationalists and sympathizers. Participants bore torches, flags of the All-Ukrainian Union “Freedom”, the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, and various Cossack …

The Belarusian Defense Ministry has reported about the talks with NATO on holding joint exercises next year.

TASS reports that the parties are discussing the joint "peacekeeping exercises"  as part of the Belarusian military training in the Italian NATO contingent.

It is expected that the Belarusian unit will be part of the United Nations Interim Force In Lebanon.

"Speaking about conducting joint exercises with NATO, we are not talking about preparation yet, but about the negotiation process, …

The Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov could not provide the date of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline launch because of the US sanctions. Russia previously planned to launch a gas pipeline bypassing Ukrainian territory by the beginning of 2020.

"I don't think anyone is going to say what the the date is now. There were external force majeure circumstances causes by the actions of a third party that are against international law, as well as the norms of international trade and …

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has instructed the heads of the Belarusian petrochemical industry to ensure the supply of oil from alternative sources within the next few days, reports the BelTA news agency. In the first place, Belarus officials consider delivering oil from the Baltic Sea port terminals by rail.

Head of the Belneftekhim concern Andrei Rybakov said that after telephone conversations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Lukashenko instructed to complete negotiations …

Russian President Vladimir Putin held a telephone conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on December 31, reports the Kremlin's press service. According to the Kremlin, the conversation was initiated by the Ukrainian side.

Putin and Zelensky noted the importance of the new gas transit contract and the recent exchange of prisoners between Kyiv and the territories of the Donbas that are not controlled by Ukraine. They also wished each other a Happy New Year.

Putin has not …

At a time when the incomes of most Russian citizens are still stagnating after a record dip since the 1990s, Russia’s billionaires have continued to amass wealth at a startling rate.

According to Forbes, the five wealthiest Russians became $27 billion richer.

Converted to rubles at the current exchange rate, Nornickel stakeholder Vladimir Potanin, Novatek co-owner Leonid Mikhelson, Lukoil president Vagit Alekperov, Vladimir Putin’s “friend” Gennady Timchenko and Power Machines’ owner Alexey …