Section: Voice of America (USA)
Zero Growth Seen for Russian Economy in 2014 as Ukraine Fall-out Bites
Russia’s economy will fail to grow at all in 2014 and inflation will reach a four-year high, a Reuters poll of economists showed on Tuesday, as Western sanctions over Ukraine bite. Economists cut back their growth forecasts for Russia this year as the escalating Ukraine crisis prompted waves of Western sanctions and a massive outflow of...
Merkel: EU-Russia Energy Partnership Might Need Rethinking
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Monday there were good reasons to continue the European Union’s energy partnership with Russia for the time being but that might change if Moscow continues to violate basic principles. Merkel, speaking at a news conference in Berlin with Finland’s Prime Minister Alexander Stubb, said that in the...
12 Dead as Combatants Defy E. Ukraine Cease-Fire
At least 12 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine where fighting between government forces and pro-Russian separatists continues despite a cease-fire that was declared earlier this month. A Ukrainian military spokesman says nine soldiers were killed when their armored vehicle was attacked Sunday, while the government of Donetsk said at least...
Ukrainians Tear Down Lenin Statue in Kharkiv
Ukrainians in the eastern city of Kharkiv have felled one of its most prominent Russian symbols – a statue of Soviet icon Vladimir Lenin. Groups of men scrambled onto the monument in the center square and carved the words “Glory to Ukraine” on it before sawing off the legs and pulling it down with cables. “Glory to Ukraine” has...
Russia Says Relations with US Need New ‘Reset’
Russia’s foreign secretary says relations between Moscow and Washington need – in his words – a new “reset” – referring to U.S. President Barack Obama’s effort to improve ties with Russia in the early days of his administration. In a Russian television interview airing Sunday, Sergei Lavrov blamed the...
Russia Slams US, EU for Backing Ukraine ‘Coup’
Russia, hit with stiff Western sanctions for its role in the Ukraine crisis, accused the United States and the European Union on Saturday of backing a “coup d’etat” that drove Ukraine’s pro-Russian president from power early this year. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, in an address to the United Nations General Assembly,...
George Clooney’s Wedding Brings Out Stars in Venice
There was no other news on the Rialto on Friday as A-list stars glided into Venice to celebrate the wedding of Hollywood hero George Clooney and human rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin. The two-time Oscar winner and Kentucky-born Clooney, 53, is set to renounce his oath of bachelorhood and marry British-Lebanese barrister Alamuddin, 36, in a multi-day...
EU Condemns Russia for Barring Entry to MEP
The European Union has condemned Russia Friday for barring entry to a European legislator. The 28-nation bloc characterized as “unacceptable” the decision to bar entry to Rebecca Harms, a German member of European Parliament who co-chairs the Green group. The EU said Harms had checked with Russian authorities before traveling. European Parliament...
Secretive Russian Oil Giant Has No Fear of Sanctions
While most Russian oil tycoons and Kremlin energy officials are calculating billions of losses that could result from Western sanctions, one of them is counting his blessings. Vladimir Bogdanov’s Surgutneftegas has no Western debts, no foreign partners on its huge Siberian fields and uses no Western drilling technology, making it virtually...
US Military Concerned by Russian Cold War-style Bomber Flights
The U.S. military is concerned by flights by long-range Russian bombers near U.S. airspace, a top U.S. commander said on Thursday, saying the Cold War-style activity was raising questions for Pentagon planners. The remarks by Admiral Samuel Locklear, head of the U.S. military’s Pacific Command, came after Russian Bear long-range bombers...
