• Belarus and Venezuela owe Russia $11 billion

    Belarus, Ukraine and Venezuela are the countries that owe Russia the most through government loans, according to an estimate by RBC based on open information.

    Traditionally, Russia does not disclose information about loans issued to other governments. Their existence becomes known if Russia signs an international agreement which is later ratified by the State Duma. In such cases, Russian MPs talk about the loans, or the borrowing state discloses information about them.

    According to RBC, …

  • Ukraine and Moldova plan to start importing gas from Romania in 2020

    Ukraine and Moldova will be able to import gas from Romania through Isakcha-1-Orlovka connection point in the South Odessa region from January 1, 2020, reports Ukrainian national gas transit company Ukrtransgaz on its webpage.

    "Ukrtransgaz and Moldovagaz, together with gas transport systems operators of other countries agreed on the necessary technical solutions for creating new import capacities based on the Trans-Balkan pipeline system in the South-North direction (reverse through the …

  • Poland opposes transfer of US troops from Germany

    Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz, in an interview with  the newspaper Rzeczpospolita, commented on the US plans to redeploy its military from Germany to Poland, because Berlin doesn't plan to increase its budget for NATO.

    Czaputowicz didn't support this idea, noting that US troops provide security for Poland even from the German territory. According to him, the US provides a "backup" in case of "attack from Russia," but they manage it well even from a distance.

    Also, the Minister …

  • Russian Navy exercises last twice longer due to NATO and bad weather

    The exercises of the Russian Navy Ocean Shield-2019 lasted almost twice longer than planned because of the actions of the North Atlantic Alliance, as well as bad weather, said the commander-in-chief of the Russian Navy Nikolai Yevmenov as quoted by RIA Novosti.

    According to him, the original plan was that the exercises would be held from August 1 to August 9. However, he added, the adverse weather and the response of the NATO joint naval forces" to the actions of the Russian navy required …

  • Russia’s State Duma to summon foreign diplomats due to protests in Moscow

    The State Duma Council has decided to create an inter-party commission on foreign interference in Russia’s internal affairs, the lower house of parliament announced. Vasily Piskarev, an MP from the United Russia party and head of the Committee for Security and Opposing Corruption, will head the new commission.

    “We are seeing how on government channels a number of countries are voicing statements like ‘Rise up, Moscow!’, calls to action – all of this constitutes interference in Russia’s …