• Kremlin explains decision to write off billions of African debt

    By writing off billions of dollars owed by African countries, Russia has “opened a way for its companies to operate on the continent,” said Kremlin Spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, as cited by the Interfax news agency.

    Peskov explained that for a long time the debt burden had prevented the development of collaboration and cooperation between African countries and Russian companies. By law, companies with major debt could not enter into any new projects, he explained.

    “This is how it’s been cleared …

  • Armenia rejects Russian arms tender without explanation

    Russia plans to send Armenia a note of protest regarding the rejection of an arms supply tender submitted by the Russian company ORSIS, RIA Novosti reports, citing a copy of the document in its possession.

    The note, dated October 22, 2019, is addressed to Armenian Defense Minister David Tonoyan. It states that ORSIS’s proposal was rejected without any reasons being provided, and that Armenia has unjustifiably placed the firm on its list of unreliable suppliers.

    Russia requests that Defense …

  • Kyiv: Ukraine is ready for negotiations on restoring its sovereignty over Crimea

    Ukraine's Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Kateryna Zelenko said that Ukraine is ready for negotiations in any format on the restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty over the Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, annexed by Russia, reports Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

    Ukrainian Spokesperson stressed that Russia had committed an international crime against Ukraine.

    "Once again, we remind Russia that, under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Ukraine is a coastal State in the Black Sea, …

  • Norway to allocate $4 million for medical reform in Ukraine

    By the end of the year Ukraine and Norway will start the implementation of a joint three-year project in the field of health protection, reports the press service of the Ukrainian Embassy in Norway.

    The Norwegian government will allocate 37 million Norwegian kroner ($4 million) for the project.

    "One of the main goals of the project is the improvement of the Ukrainian healthcare system in the field of physical and psychological rehabilitation provided to wounded Ukrainian military personnel …

  • Russian S-400 missile systems to be used in military exercises outside of Russia for the first time

    Russian anti-air defense divisions armed with S-400 and Pantsir-S surface-to-air missile systems have been sent to Serbia to take part in the second stage of the Russian-Serbian Slavyansky Shchit (“Slavic Shield”) 2019 exercise. The Russian Defense Ministry announced this on October 24 in a press release, pointing out that this is the first time that the missile systems are being used in an exercise in another country.

    According to the Defense Ministry, the systems have already been moved to …