• Kremlin: Russian government lost trust in Belarus 

    Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said that the Russian Federation has lost trust in Belarus. 

    According to him, this is due to the fact that Belarus has been violating the Russian-Belarusian customs regime, including the import of sanctioned and excisable goods into the Russian Federation. 

    “We keep telling Belarus that they are our neighbor, our ally, but we have recently lost trust in Belarus. All those solvents, sanctioned products that come to us, excisable goods, cigarettes that …

  • Putin invites Lukashenko to lunch for a private chat

    Vladimir Putin has invited Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who arrived recently in Moscow, to a meal without any delegations from the two countries, TASS reports. 

    “I propose this arrangement: we will listen to how our colleagues have been working, and then we will give the delegations another opportunity to talk, and then I want to invite you separately to a New Year’s work lunch,” Putin said. 

    When speaking about how Russia-Belarus relations have been developing in recent times, …

  • Nord Stream 2 construction begins in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone 

    The Solitaire, a ship working on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, has begun laying pipes in Sweden’s exclusive economic zone, Aftonbladet reports. The pipes needed for construction will be stored at the Swedish Karshamn Port. 

    Sveriges Radio reported that the pipe-laying operation in this region will last until summer 2019, and that the Karshamn Port administration has hired 110 extra staff for this period. 

    Nord Stream AG, the pipeline’s operator company, announced on December 23 that the …

  • Israel strikes Iranian military bases in Syria

    According Syrian sources, Israeli aircraft entered Lebanese airspace at low altitude and then carried a missile attack on military facilities near Damascus. At least three Syrian soldiers were injured during the attack.

    The Syrian state agency SANA confirmed that the air attack was carried out by the Israeli Air Force. According to SANA, some of the missiles were intercepted, but several Syrian soldiers were injured.

    SANA, citing a source in the Syrian Army, reports that air defense responded …

  • Russian military industry cut off from US dollar 

    US sanctions have led to the Russian military-industrial complex being cut off from dollar transactions, reports finanz.ru. 

    Although the portfolio of orders of the Russian state-owned arms exporter Rosoboronexport is estimated at $50 billion, the sale of weapons abroad does not bring in hard currency – the deals are made in rupees, yuans and rubles, which are harder to use to pay for imports. 

    Major defense contracts to supply S-400 systems have to be maintained outside the global dollar …