Section: Voice of America (USA)
Lavrov: For Russia, Issue of Crimea ‘Closed’
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has reiterated Russia’s position on its annexation of Crimea, saying that Moscow considers the matter “closed.” “The Crimea issue – and I think everyone understands this, including those who cannot stop talking about it – is closed,” Lavrov said, speaking Thursday at a news conference on the...
BRICS Leaders Vow to Coordinate Actions, Protect Economies
The BRICS emerging nations said on Thursday they were worried about the volatility of global financial markets and oil prices and agreed to coordinate efforts to keep their economies stable. Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa finally launched the group’s largest initiatives to date – a development bank and a...
Ukraine Banks Ask Russia to Compensate for Crimea Losses
Two of Ukraine’s largest banks – Privatbank and state-owned Oschadbank – have asked Moscow to compensate them for losses resulting from Russia’s annexation of the Crimea peninsula from Ukraine last year, they said in statements on Wednesday. Already under pressure from an economic crisis in Ukraine, banks with significant...
Russian MPs Call for Probe of Foreign NGOs
The upper house of Russia’s parliament has called for a dozen foreign non-governmental organizations to be scrutinized to determine whether they should be deemed “undesirable” in accordance with a recently-passed law. The Federation Council on Wednesday formally asked Russia’s foreign and justice ministries and Prosecutor...
Hoax Letter to Russian Media Seeks to Tie US Senator to Ukraine
A forger sent a hoax letter to Russian media in an apparent bid to convince journalists that a senior U.S. lawmaker, Senator Richard Durbin, was trying to tell Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk how to run his government, Durbin’s office said on Monday. The hoaxer wrote to Yatsenyuk on what appeared to be U.S. Senate letterhead,...
France Says Will Not Sell Weapons to China
France says there will be no weapons sales to China, following earlier speculation that France might consider selling two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships to Beijing. After a joint news conference with U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter at the Pentagon on Monday, French Minister of Defense Jean-Yves Le Drian denied the wide spread...
Ukraine Launches Western-style Police Force
The first 2,000 recruits of a new Ukrainian police force fanned throughout the capital Kyiv over the weekend, intended by the government as a visible sign of its commitment to shake off a deep-rooted culture of corruption in public institutions. Trained by U.S. and Canadian forces, and given less militaristic uniforms and the name...
Land Mine Blast in East Ukraine Kills 5 Soldiers, Wounds 3
Ukraine says five of its soldiers were killed and three wounded when a land mine exploded in the east of the country, where government troops are fighting Russia-backed separatists. The presidential administration spokesman for the military operation, Alexander Motuzyanik, told reporters Sunday that the explosion occurred the previous day near...
Putin: US-Russian Relations Key for Solving Global Crises
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said relations between Moscow and Washington remain the most important factor in ensuring stability and security in the world. In a congratulatory message to U.S. President Barack Obama Saturday on the U.S. Independence Day, Putin said that despite the differences, Russia and the U.S. could find solutions for...
Russians Get Glimpse of Internet ‘Troll Factory’
A secretive Russian agency designed to flood the Internet with pro-Kremlin and anti-U.S. comments and posts has been brought into the public eye as a result of a lawsuit brought by a former employee. In a Russian court, Lyudmila Savchuk sued the Agency for Internet Studies, or AIS, on a variety of charges, including labor violations and lack of...
