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US Intelligence dismisses possibility of large-scale Russian attack against Ukraine
American Intelligence believes that a large-scale attack by Russia against Ukraine in 2019 is "operationally possible but not likely,” stated Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats during a hearing at the US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Voice of America reported.
"We assess that a major offensive by either Ukraine or Russian proxy forces is operationally feasible but unlikely in 2019,” Coats stated. US intelligence services foresee increased tensions in the Black Sea and …
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Ukrainian Supreme Court allows seizing Russian banks assets to recover losses in Crimea
The Supreme Court of Ukraine allowed seizing shares of Russian financial institutions as compensation for the annexation of the Crimea, the press service of the Court reported.
In July last year, eighteen legal entities and one individual applied to the Kyiv Court of Appeals with the request to recognize and to grant permission for the implementation of the decision made by the International Court of Arbitration at the Hague.
According to the application, debtor banks hold some property in …
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Tokyo: establishing US military bases in the Kuril Islands is only possible with Japan’s consent
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that if the South Kuril Islands are handed over to Japan, the creation of US military bases on those islands will be possible only after Tokyo gives its consent, RIA Novosti reported, citing Kyodo News Agency.
The United States has the right to establish military bases in Japan. However, in the case of the Kuril Islands, the deployment location must be coordinated with the Japanese government, Abe stated.
Meanwhile, Abe gave no answer to journalists’ …
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Russia prepares to kiss goodbye to multi-billion investments in Venezuela
The US sanctions on PDVSA, the Venezuelan state-owned oil company, threaten to affect the Maduro government’s ability to repay its debts to Russia, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak said on Tuesday.
According to Storchak, Venezuela has borrowed more than $3 billion from Russia in intergovernmental loans.
The debt had to be restructured in November 2017, when the repayment schedule became impossible for Nicolás Maduro, whose 6 year rule has seen the Venezuelan economy shrink by …
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China refuses to finance $14 billion Gazprom megaproject
Russian officials’ attempts to get through to Chinese investors in order to enlist their support in developing the economy in the East and overcoming western sanctions are continuing to fail for the fifth consecutive year.
The new negotiations to secure a Chinese loan for the construction of Russia’s largest gas processing plant in the Amur province have ended with yet another disappointment for the Russians.
Gazprom had hoped to pay for the Amur gas processing plant, which is scheduled to …