• Lavrov: Russia will not give the Kuril Islands to Japan

    After the meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the Kuril Islands are and will remain Russia’s territory.

    “The sovereignty over the islands is non-negotiable. We drew attention to the fact these islands are designated as a northern territory in Japan’s legislation, which is, of course, unacceptable,” Lavrov said. 

    He pointed out that no peace agreement can be concluded if Japan does not recognize the results of World War II. 

    “I …

  • Belarusian opposition urges authorities to restrict broadcasting of Russian channels

    The opposition party Belarusian Popular Front or BPF adopted a statement at a party’s meeting that demands that the authorities restrict broadcasting of Russian TV channels and replace them with programs of local production or a balanced set of foreign television programs from other countries, Interfax report.

    The BPF declared 2019 the Year of the Belarusian language, calling it "an important factor of national security" in the face of "information attacks against Belarus." “We call on all …

  • Kyiv: Russia amassing military equipment in Crimea in order to block access to it

    Russia is amassing military equipment in Crimea in order to block off access to it, not only for possible military opponents, but also for humanitarian organizations, international experts and monitoring, said Vadym Chernysh, Ukraine’s Minister of Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons, in a post on the ministry’s website.

    “This is already the fourth missile system in temporarily occupied Crimea, sent in order to control the sea waters and Ukraine’s territory. We are …

  • Kremlin: Russia wants no US involvement in the peace process with Japan

    The Russian Foreign Ministry opposes the inclusion of the United States in the negotiations process with Japan, said the Ministry’s official representative, Maria Zakharova on Channel Russia 1.

    “Suddenly, the third party appears again in this bilateral dialogue established thanks to political will expressed by our government. And what is interesting about it is that we hear surprising and strange statements made by Japan in the USA that Japan is waiting for the support of the USA, or even …

  • Kremlin surprised that Japan decided to conduct a closed press conference after talks with Lavrov

    The Ministry of Foreign Affairs official spokeswoman Maria Zakharova reported in an interview on the “Sunday evening” program on television channel Russia-1 on Sunday, that the Japanese side plans to organize a closed briefing, scheduled for Monday, after talks between the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Kono.

    “This morning, Japanese diplomats sent out invitations to various media representatives on a closed briefing for tomorrow evening,” said …