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Ukraine: meetings of US representative for Ukraine Volker and Putin’s aide Surkov are an addition to Normandy talks
The meeting of the Special Representative of the US State Department Kurt Volker, and a personal advisor to the Russian President, Vladislav Surkov, is an additional platform for negotiations, which complements the Minsk and Normandy formats, the Political Director of the Directorate General for Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Oleksii Makeiev said, as reported by Radio Liberty. According to him, the Ukrainians were informed in advance about the details of this planned …
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Saudi Arabia intends to buy S-400 missile systems from Russia
The Saudi military plans to buy "at least four divisions" of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems worth about $2 billion from Moscow, newspaper Kommersant reports citing its source familiar with the course of the talks between Moscow and Riyadh.
Such a "fundamental agreement", as the interlocutor of the newspaper remarked, was one of the results of the meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the King of Saudi Arabia, Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, in Moscow. This was also …
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European Parliament calls on Russia to stop repression in Crimea
At a plenary session in Strasbourg on Thursday, the EU parliament adopted a resolution which accuses Russia of violating human rights in annexed Crimea, especially the rights of Crimean Tatars, Voice of America reports.
European parliamentarians have demanded the release of political prisoners and have called for representatives of the UN, OSCE and the European Council to be granted unobstructed access to Crimea.
The resolution states that the EU Parliament “condemns the sentences given to …
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Russian State Duma: Russians captured in Syria have been executed
Roman Zabolotny and Grigory Tsurkanu, who were shown in the video from Syria with captured Russian soldiers, have most likely been killed by Islamic State militants, Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee for the CIS and European Integration Viktor Vodolatsky told reporters on October 5.
According to the MP, on camera the prisoners refused to renounce their orthodox faith, adopt Islam and join ISIS, and so they were killed by the terrorists. Vodolatsky did not disclose the information’s …
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Crimea is not meeting Russia’s conscription quotas for contract servicemen
The Military Registration and Enlistment office of the annexed Crimea, under the authority of the Kremlin, was ordered to recruit 1,400 contractors to serve in the Armed Forces of Russia, as reported on the Crimean website, Kryminform, citing the head of the Department of Training and Conscription, Vadim Meshalkin.
"We received an order for 1,400 contracted soldiers. So far, about 650 people have expressed their desire to serve...Documents submitted for the remainder are under consideration,” …