Contents tagged with Europe

  • Polish President calls for halt of Nord Stream 2 pipeline construction

    During his visit to London, Polish President Andrzej Duda urged Germany to abandon the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Deutsche Welle reported.

    The second gas pipeline running under the Baltic Sea will lead to the disruption of the ‘energy balance’, he said during a joint press conference with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Tuesday, October 23, in Berlin.

    According to Duda, the new gas pipeline will lead to the dominant position of a single supplier and will …

  • EU preparing new sanctions against Russia

    On Monday, October 15, the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union will approve a plan for new sanctions against Russia. This time sanctions will be imposed due to the use of chemical weapons, reported Interfax citing the British Foreign Ministry. According to the document, sanctions were proposed by the UK and France and concern not only Russia but are intended to prevent the criminal use of chemical weapons around the world. Those responsible for the sanctions saw the need for action …

  • Russia: Sentsov working on new screenplay from prison

    The Ukrainian filmmaker Oleh Sentsov, who is currently being held in a Russian prison, has begun work on the screenplay for an upcoming film, according to reports in the Russian media which cite Valery Maksimenko, head of Russia’s Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN).

    “He has already started writing the script for a future film. It will be a story about life in prison and the prisoners. Inspiration hasn’t left him,” Maksimenko reportedly said.

    According to Maksimenko, Sentsov is currently …

  • Russian Foreign Minister claims sanctions harm the implementation of the Minsk agreements

    Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov stated that the European Union "invites Ukraine to sabotage the Minsk Agreements" and that Russia ends up paying for it. At a meeting with his Italian colleague, Enzo Moavero Milanesi, Lavrov accused Ukraine again of not implementing the Minsk Agreements, the Russian Foreign Ministry stated.

    Lavrov still denies that the Russian Federation violates the Minsk agreements. He accused Ukraine of not conducting a dialogue with the Russian-backed DPR …

  • PACE rejects plans to lift sanctions from Russia

    Evropeyskaya Pravda reported that the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) Bureau rejected the proposal to postpone a review of the “Russian question” at the current session.

    Another proposal consideration to amend the regulations should be conducted at this session. The main thesis of it is to make the renewal of sanctions against any member states as difficult as possible. These changes concern Russia, whose delegates will be able to return to work at PACE only after these …

  • Clear Sky 2018 air force exercises have begun in Ukraine

    On Monday, October 8, the multinational military exercise Clear Sky 2018 began in Ukraine. The press-service of the Ministry of Defense reports that 12 days of exercises will be held in the territory of the Khmelnitskyi and Vinnytsia regions.

    The airfield in Starokostiantyniv in the Khmelnitskyi region will be the main base for air combat training. Representatives of the armed forces of Belgium, Great Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Netherlands, Poland, Romania and the USA will participate in the …

  • Kremlin claims Russians accused of hacker attack in Netherlands were testing embassy's computer systems

    The Russians detained in April in the Netherlands were supposed to test the embassy's computer systems, stated the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Intexfax reports.

    “The technical equipment confiscated from the Russian representatives were intended for testing the embassy’s information systems for analyzing the security of computer networks in connection with the frequent attempts of cyber-penetration into Russian state institutions,” the statement reads.

    The Russian Foreign Ministry …

  • President of the European Council: Russia undermines everything possible in Europe

    “Under the leadership of President Vladimir Putin, Russia poses a serious threat to the European Union’s unity," said President of the European Council Donald Tusk, DW reports.

    “Our problem is that Russia undermines everything possible in Europe. I can provide numerous examples to prove that Russians will stop at nothing to weaken European unity," Tusk stated. He added that there was “clear evidence of Russia’s intervention in the campaign during the referendum on Brexit, and also in the …

  • Ukrainian Defense Ministry publishes map of mined areas in Donbas

    The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense has published an interactive map of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions contaminated by mines and explosive remnants of war, Ministry's pressed service reported.

    “The map can be used to find out the name, area, type, and status of the mined area, the type of threat, the type of marking, the organization that examined the area and the date of the examination,” the report says.

    According to the Ministry, the military and civilians have been repeatedly targeted with …

  • Putin asks West to hurry up with sanctions

    It would be good for Russia for the process of sanction imposition to be done and dusted as quickly as possible, said Russian President Vladimir Putin at a plenary session of the Russian Energy Week forum on Wednesday.

    “You know, I sometimes think that it would be good for us if you who want to impose sanctions would just impose all the sanctions that can possible be imposed, and as quickly as possible,” Putin remarked.

    According to the Russian President, such a scenario would free up Russia’ …