Negotiations on Syria in Astana postponed indefinitely
Russia, Turkey and Iran have postponed the planned round of talks on Syria in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan, which Moscow had proposed to hold June 12-13, as stated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Kazakhstan.
In turn, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said that the talks could resume on June 20. According to him, the meeting was postponed because the delegations were not ready.
Earlier it was reported that at the end of the last such talks in Astana last month, Russia, …
US Embassy in Ukraine: explosion at the embassy compound was not an act of terror
On the night of June 8 there was an explosion on the property of the US embassy. Police arrived promptly at the scene of the incident. Examination suggested that an unknown person threw an unidentified explosive device onto the diplomatic mission’s property. The perpetrator was caught on the embassy’s surveillance cameras. Representatives of the embassy’s security service showed Ukrainian law enforcement officials the video recording. The news outlet Obozrevatel reported with reference to its …
Ukrainian forces advance deeper into the Donbas as the situation in Eastern Ukraine escalates
On June 7-8 there was fierce fighting for the Zholobok settlement in the Luhansk region. Both the Ukrainian side and the separatists reported dozens of killed and injured.
As early as June 2, one of the battalions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) of the 93rd Mechanized Brigade suddenly moved forward into the gray zone from the Krymskoye settlement in the south towards the separatists’ position along the Bakhmut route. The Ukrainian military managed to advance half a kilometer directly …
Russia's Permanent Representative to the EU: European Union is preparing to review its position towards Russia
Conditions have become favorable for the EU to soften its policy towards Russia in general, and particularly with regards to sanctions, said Vladimir Chizhov, Russia's permanent representative to the EU, in an interview with the newspaper Izvestia.
According to Chizhov, toward the end of the month there will be another discussion of one of the three sets of anti-Russian sanctions, which deals with economic measures. These measures expire on July 31st. Along with this, Chizhov stressed that the …
National Bank of Ukraine: Billions are circulating outside of the banking system in Ukraine
The amount of cash outside of the banking system is about 300 billion hryvnia ($11.48 billion USD).
UNIAN reports that the Acting Head of the National Bank (NBU), Yakov Smolii, announced this during a meeting of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Financial Policy and Banking Activity.
"At the current time, there is cash of about 300 billion UAH outside of the banking system," he said.
At the same time, Smolii stressed that such a large amount of cash increases the burden on the National Bank, …