European Parliament Supports Establishment of International Tribunal for MH17

The resolution of the European Parliament stated that they support the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for investigating the MH17 incident. In 2014, the Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 passenger plane was shot down over the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine. The European Parliament also called on Russia to fully cooperate with the international community in order to carry out a full and impartial investigation and bring the perpetrators to justice, the document says.

Russia’s …


Ukraine and Turkey to Strengthen Cooperation in Black Sea Region

The Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, stated that Ukraine and Turkey have a unique opportunity to pool political, diplomatic, military, technical and economic resources for an effective and coordinated response to the destruction of the balance of forces in the Black Sea region.

On January 21st, Turchynov met with the Secretary General of the National Security Council of Turkey, Seyfullah Hacimuftuoglu. “The development of bilateral …


Sberbank: Russian Inflation will Exceed 8 Percent in 2016

The Russian bank Sberbank believes that Russia will see a recession and that  inflation may exceed 8% this year, as reported by TASS, citing the head of the Center for Macroeconomic Research of Sberbank, Yulia Tsepliaeva. According to her, a decline in consumption and economic growth may also be expected.

“We expect an economic slowdown and an additional year of decline in consumption. Inflation is likely to be high. It is expected to exceed 8%,” Tsepliaeva said.

Tsepliaeva assesses the Bank’ …


Poroshenko: Ukraine to Receive Next Installment of IMF Loan in February

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, expects that in February 2016, Ukraine will receive the next loan installment from the IMF, as reported by Bloomberg, following a meeting in Davos with the Managing Director of the IMF, Christine Lagarde.

According to Poroshenko, an agreement was reached on the allocation of the next installment of the loan to Ukraine. "We have reached a compromise on the budget deficit and the macro indicators, relative to all," the President assured.

Poroshenko …


Russian Ambassador to the UK Calls Litvinenko Investigation a Provocation

The Russian Ambassador to the UK, Alexander Yakovenko, called London’s approach to the "business of Litvinenko" a "blatant provocation" by the British authorities. Yakovenko said this after being summoned to the British Foreign Office.

According to him, for Moscow, "it is absolutely unacceptable to question whether the Russian government was somehow involved in the death of Litvinenko... This is an attempt to exert additional pressure on Russia in connection with the existing differences on …