Section: Voice of America (USA)
Russia’s Import Substitution Plan Runs into Quality, Economic Problems
Russia is touting import substitution, a policy aimed at replacing foreign products with locally produced goods. The plan was sparked by Western sanctions over Ukraine and Moscow’s retaliatory ban on Western food. Some countries, like China, expect to benefit from the ban, but, as VOA’s Daniel Schearf reports from Moscow, substituting...
CPJ, OSCE Blast Ukraine on Foreign Journalist Entry Ban
Two international rights organizations have criticized Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko for signing a decree that banned 41 foreign journalists and bloggers from entry into Ukraine for one year. The Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe issued a statement Thursday calling the ban “a severe threat to the rights of...
3 BBC Journalists Barred from Entering Ukraine
Ukraine has barred a few dozen reporters, including three BBC journalists, from entering the country as an unspecified security threat. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko late on Wednesday signed a sanctions list barring nearly 400 individuals from entering Ukraine, including BBC correspondent Steve Rosenberg and producer Emma Wells, both...
Estonia Tackles Improves NATO’s Cyber Defenses
These days, it seems like nowhere in the cyber realm is safe. Hacks have infiltrated all walks of cyber life, from the email system used by the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s office at the Pentagon, to the cheating spouses on the Canada-based Ashley Madison website. But the NATO Cooperative Cyber Defense Center of Excellence, in the tiny country...
Ukraine Campaigns to Strip Russia of Its UN Veto Power
Ukraine intends to pursue its campaign to strip Russia of its U.N. Security Council veto power at the United Nations General Assembly annual meeting and debate later this month. Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, voted unanimously Wednesday in favor of an international initiative to preventing use of the veto to block Security...
Ukraine’s Poroshenko: Rebel Elections Threaten Peace Deal
A leader of Russian-backed separatists in east Ukraine signed a decree on Wednesday to hold local elections, a move President Petro Poroshenko condemned as a risky and irresponsible decision that threatened a cease-fire deal. Under the terms of the much-violated Minsk peace agreement, reached in February, local elections were meant to be held in...
Top US General Visits Estonia Amid Russian Aggression in Ukraine
As a former Soviet state that shares a border with Russia, Estonia is watching the situation in Ukraine with growing concern. As VOA’s Carla Babb reports, the country’s political and defense leaders say Estonians feel safer knowing the U.S. is stepping up its military presence in the country. …read more Source: Voice of...
Preventing History from Repeating; US Reaffirms Solidarity with Estonia
The cheers for Russia in Ukraine’s annexed Crimea peninsula were, for many Estonians, an eerie reminder of their past. “It is history repeating itself, because in 1940 when Estonia was occupied by the Soviet Union, it was basically the same scenario,” Estonian Army 2nd Lieutenant Simmo Sarr said. Back then, a Russian coup d’état was...
Moscow Observers Ponder Russia’s Actions in Syria
As concerns build that an influx of Russian military aid to Syria could make the conflict there worse, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry spoke Tuesday with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov. The U.S. Defense Department expressed concern Monday about Russian moves in Syria, stating that Moscow appeared to be setting up an air base near the...
US Air Force Cites ‘Alarming’ Russian Strides in Air Power
A U.S. Air Force general on Monday cited what he called “alarming” moves by the Russian military to beef up its air forces in the years since the invasion of Georgia in 2008 and to establish firm defenses around areas like Crimea. General Frank Gorenc, commander of U.S. Air Forces in Europe, told reporters he was concerned about...
