Contents tagged with Vladimir Putin

  • Putin: Russia ‘hasn’t started anything serious yet’ in Ukraine

    Russian President Vladimir Putin told Duma deputies on Thursday that Russia “by and large hasn’t started anything seriously yet” in Ukraine.

    Putin also challenged Western countries supporting Ukraine to try to defeat Russia on the battlefield.

    "Today we hear that they want to defeat us on the battlefield. Well, what can you say here? Let them try," Putin said.

    He also accused the West of wanting “to fight us until the last Ukrainian.”

    Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhaylo Podolyak Tweeted …

  • Putin wants Europe to participate in the restoration of Syria

    Before meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel,  Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Europe “to contribute to the reconstruction of Syria to allow millions of refugees to return home.” 

    "We need to strengthen the humanitarian effort in the Syrian conflict,” he said. "By that, I mean above all, humanitarian aid to the Syrian people and help the regions where refugees living abroad can return to." According to him, there were one million refugees in Jordan, the same number in …

  • Berlin: Germany will not give up energy projects with Russia because of the US position

    Germany will not give up agreements with Russia in the energy sector, in particular, on the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline due to the US position, announced Andrea Nahles, the head of the Social Democratic Party, in an interview with the newspaper Funke Mediengruppe.

    “We cannot afford to be dissuaded from our agreements in the field of energy policy only because the US President cannot accept this,” noted Nahles.

    Earlier, it was reported in the German Committee on Eastern  …

  • Merkel: Ukraine must remain a gas transit country

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a joint press statement saying that they discussed the transit of gas to the European Union through Ukraine in the Meseberg meeting, Interfax reported on Saturday, August 18.

    "In the context of Ukraine, we also talked about the transit of gas. I believe that even after the launch of the Nord Stream-2, Ukraine must continue to play its role in gas transit to Europe." I am very pleased that we managed to begin the …

  • Putin’s invitation to foreign minister’s wedding draws criticism in Austria

    Austria has criticized the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin was invited to the wedding of Austrian Foreign Minister Karin Kneissl. The Russian president’s visit “damages” Austria, Austrian political scientist Gerhard Mangott told the German Press Agency in an interview.

    Mangott believes that the upcoming visit will cause people to suspect that Austria is “Russia’s Trojan horse in the EU”. The political scientist also says that Putin is being given an opportunity to demonstrate that …

  • Ukrainian President speaks with Merkel before Putin's visit to Germany

    On Thursday, August 16, President Petro Poroshenko had a telephone conversation with German Chancellor Angela Merkel ahead of the visit of the Russian President Vladimir Putin to Germany, the press service of the Ukrainian President announced.

    The leaders of Ukraine and Germany coordinated their positions ahead of Putin's visit. They discussed the situation in the Donbas and further efforts aimed at peaceful reconciliation.

    Poroshenko reminded Merkel about the Ukrainian political prisoners …

  • Eight more Russians ask to be exchanged for Ukrainian political prisoners

    Eight Russian citizens have written a letter addressed to Russian President Vladimir Putin, asking to be exchanged for Ukrainian political prisoners, Ukrainian Human Rights Commissioner Lyudmyla Denisova reported.

    During her monitoring of the detention centers, Denisova met with the Russians, who gave her their  requests to be exchanged.

    “The following asked to be exchanged: Vyacheslav Vysotsky (Cherkasy penal colony No. 62), Valery Ivanov and Alexander Valekhidis (Drohobych penal colony No. 4 …

  • Russians detained in Ukraine ask Putin to exchange them for Ukrainians imprisoned in Russia

    Alexander Sattarov and Farukh Kamalov, who were arrested in Ukraine, appealed to the Russian President Vladimir Putin with the request to exchange them for the Ukrainians detained in Russia, reported the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Lyudmyla Denisova.

    "I’ve met with Alexander Sattarov and Farukh Kamalov during today's monitoring visit to Lukyanivska Prison. They wrote an application addressed to the President of the Russian Federation with a request to return them to Russia by …

  • Kremlin: Sentsov must personally appeal to Putin for pardon

    In reply to the Sentsov mother’s appeal, the Russian Office for the Guarantee of Citizens Constitutional Rights under the Presidential Administration said that to apply for a pardon, the film director Oleh Sentsov must write a personal plea to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    The Putin administration stated that they forwarded Oleh’s mother’s Ludmila Sentsova's appeal to the Governor of the Yamalo-Nenets Autonomous Area for his preliminary consideration, reports Hromadske.

    "At the same time, …

  • Merkel to discuss Ukraine and Nord Stream 2 with Putin in Germany

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Schloss Meseberg on August 18, the federal government announced. Merkel will discuss “current foreign policy issues” with Putin, including the Syrian conflict, the situation in eastern Ukraine, and issues in the energy sector, particularly the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which will transport gas directly from Russia to Germany.

    “Next Saturday, on August 18, the chancellor and government representatives will …