Ukraine: meetings of US representative for Ukraine Volker and Putin’s aide Surkov are an addition to Normandy talks

The meeting of the Special Representative of the US State Department Kurt Volker, and a personal advisor to the Russian President, Vladislav Surkov, is an additional platform for negotiations, which complements the Minsk and Normandy formats, the Political Director of the Directorate General for Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleksii Makeiev said, as reported by Radio Liberty. According to him, the Ukrainians were informed in advance about the details of this planned …


Military Command of Ukraine: Kyiv has sent the US a list of weapons necessary for Ukrainian Army

Ukraine has sent the entire list of weapons which it would like to receive to the United States. All necessary negotiations have been completed, and now the decision depends on Washington, stated the chief of the General Staff of Ukraine Viktor Muzhenko, as reported by 112.ua.

According to him, Ukraine is asking for air reconnaissance, anti-tank systems, and radio electronic systems.

The chief of the General Staff added that now they must wait for a political decision.

Asked what could …


Saudi Arabia intends to buy S-400 missile systems from Russia

The Saudi military plans to buy "at least four divisions" of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems worth about $2 billion from Moscow, newspaper Kommersant reports citing its source familiar with the course of the  talks  between Moscow and Riyadh.

Such a "fundamental agreement", as the interlocutor of the newspaper remarked, was one of the results of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in Moscow. This was also …


The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development called privatization ‘one of the biggest failures’ in Ukraine

To accelerate economic growth and attract foreign investors, Ukraine needs to unblock the privatization process, stated the managing director of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) for Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, Francis Malige, reports Interfax-Ukraine.

According to Malige, the EBRD is still ready to provide technical support and, for certain targets, to act as a buyer of a minority stake. In particular, the bank may be interested in companies in the energy sector, …


European Parliament calls on Russia to stop repression in Crimea

At a plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday, the EU parliament adopted a resolution which accuses Russia of violating human rights in annexed Crimea, especially the rights of Crimean Tatars, Voice of America reports.

European parliamentarians have demanded the release of political prisoners and have called for representatives of the UN, OSCE and the European Council to be granted unobstructed access to Crimea.

The resolution states that the EU Parliament “condemns the sentences given to …