• Russians losing faith in ruble

    The proportion of Russian citizens who expect the exchange rate of the Russian national currency to drop has grown by 70% since spring 2018 and reached a record since the start of the study (2013).

    44% of respondents expect the ruble to weaken in the next 12 months, the results of the Central Bank of Russia’s July survey indicate.

    This is 17 percentage points more than in March, and higher than the previous record from August and September 2014 (41%). Thus the Russian currency market’s April …

  • Lithuania: NATO’s Air Force accompanied Russian aircraft over the Baltic Sea once last week

    NATO destroyers accompanied Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea last week, according to a statement made on Monday by the Ministry of Defense of Lithuania circulated in a weekly review of the country’s airspace.

    According to the report, on duty aircraft from the Portuguese and Spanish Air Force stationed at Zokniai airbase in Lithiania, escorted Russian An-26 aircraft on July 26. “The plane flew over the Baltic Sea from the Kaliningrad region,” the department informed.

    According to …

  • Czech deputies visit annexed Crimea despite Ukraine’s ban

    The Embassy of Ukraine in the Czech Republic protested the visit of the European Parliament Member Jaromir Kohlicek and Senator Jaroslav Doubrava to the Crimean territory annexed by Russia.

    "We are talking about yet another reoccurring violation of the Ukrainian legislation by the mentioned politicians, who, despite repeated warnings, continue to ignore not only Ukrainian laws but also the international law," said the embassy’s statement.

    The statement notes that most of the Czech politicians, …

  • Germany hands over to Russia the 'cocaine case' suspect

    Germany handed over to Russia Andres Kovalchuk, a businessman who has been charged with organizing cocaine smuggling from Argentina through diplomatic channels, reported Vladimir Zherebenkov, his lawyer.

    The laywer said that Kovalchuk is in Matrosskaya Tishina detention center and refuses to answer investigators' questions.

    Zherebenkov did not specify the exact time his client was extradited.

    Nevertheless, Kovalchuk's lawyers in Germany appealed against the authorities' decision to extradite …

  • Erdogan: Turkey does not plan to abandon Iranian gas because of US position

    Turkey does not intend to refuse gas supplies from Iran even if Washington iponses sanctions against Tehran, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan as reported by CNN Turk television channel.

    “I used to say to [ex-US President Barack] Obama:” sorry, but we are buying gas from Iran.” Where else can I buy it, if not from Iran? My citizens will freeze in the winter and then what will I do? I passed on the same message to [the President, Donald] Trump,” the president noted.

    Erdogan confirmed …