Putin and Erdogan planning a new meeting in Moscow

The Presidents of Russia and Turkey will hold talks in Russia for the third time this year. Russia-Turkey Cross-Cultural Year will open in April under the chairmanship of Putin and Erdogan.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan are planning to hold a meeting on April 8 in Moscow. The heads of the two states will hold a meeting of the High-Level Cooperation Council, Press Secretary of the Russian president Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday, March 23.

The …


G7 ambassadors warn Kyiv of 'extremist movements' in Ukraine

On 15 March, Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov received a letter from Group of Seven (G7) ambassadors, in which they warned him of the activity of “extremist movements” in Ukraine.

Radio Liberty obtained a copy of two letters drafted by a group of G7 ambassadors in support of reforms in Ukraine. The group comprises of envoys from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK and the US.

In the letter addressed to Avakov, French Ambassador Isabelle Dumont wrote on behalf of her fellow …


NATO ship enters Ukrainian port of Odessa

A NATO ship entered the Odessa Commercial Sea Port on the morning of March 23. The French minesweeper M653 Capricorne moored at the berth number 16 of the marine station of the port of Odessa, reports Dumskaya news website.

The ship passed the Bosphorus  and entered the Black Sea on March 21. This is the second time the NATO ship of a non-Black Sea country visits Odessa in 2019. The first vessel that arrived in Odessa on February 25 was the United States missile destroyer DDG75 Donald Cook. …


Media: Dozens killed and wounded by Russian airstrikes in Syrian Idlib

The airstrikes of Russian fighters in areas of Idlib have killed ten and wounded 28 civilians, reported Turkey's TRT news agency with reference to Syrian Civil Defense Forces (the White Helmets).

According to observers, “five Russian fighter jets that took off from the Khmeimin Air Base in the Latakia Governorate, struck villages and districts of Iblib”.

It is noted that residential areas in the de-escalation zone, in particular, Khan Shaykhun and the towns of Al-Fu’ah and Kefriya in the …


Protesters rally across Russia against pension reform and ‘prohibitive laws'

In a large number of Russian cities, citizens have taken to the streets to protest against the pension reform and “prohibitive laws”. The rallies were held on 23 March as part of an all-Russian protest to protect citizens’ socio-economic rights that was organized by the Communist Party.

One of the first cities to see a series of protests was Vladivostok. Locals rallied against the pension reform, the “garbage issue”, and more localized problems such as coal dust pollution, deforestation, and …