Contents tagged with Kremlin

  • Kremlin calls new US sanctions unlawful

    The US sanctions against Russia that will come into force on August 22 are unlawful. They negatively affect international trade, Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov told Kommersant FM radio. He also stressed that “such restrictions will certainly affect the entire international trade.”

    “We are aware that the bill has been prepared. We are familiar with the content of the bill. It has been published on their internet resources. We have carefully studied it and we consider that it …

  • Kremlin: Russia is ready for sanctions against Nord Stream-2 pipeline

    Russia is ready for the possible introduction of new US sanctions against the participants in the construction of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline, announced Vladimir Dzhabarov, the first deputy chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, as reported by RIA Novosti.

    According to the senator, sanctions “will inevitably be introduced”. Moreover, he said that Washington should not expect them to stop the construction of the gas pipeline or facilitate the refusal from the side of any participant. “ …

  • Kremlin refuses to save Russian ruble

    The ruble’s latest collapse will not force the Russian government to stop buying foreign currency on the Moscow Exchange, the Central Bank of Russia warned.

    The dollar’s 3.6 and the euro’s 2.8 ruble spike are “the market’s natural reaction” to the threat of new sanctions, and currency interventions, during which the Finance Ministry has already bought more than $30 billion and plans to buy another $6 billion in August, will continue, the regulator said in a statement released on Friday.

    The …

  • Kremlin considers expropriating surplus profits of Russian metal and oil producers

    Andrei Belousov, assistant to the Russian President, suggested withdrawing 513.7 billion rubles ($ 7.7 billion) of super profits of metallurgical and petrochemical companies such as Severstal, Mechel, Polyus, Alrosa, Nornikel, Sibur, and others. Belousov suggested using these funds to cover the expenses required to  implement Putin's decrees. According to Vedomosti, the President of Russia wrote “I agree” on the proposal.

     “It is very important what the President has approved. The President …

  • Kremlin calls staged killing of journalist Babchenko 'anti-Russian provocation'

    Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that the staged killing of Arkady Babchenko in a special SBU (Security Service of Ukraine) operation and the accusations made against Russia for organizing it are a “Russophobic lie”.

     “Immediately after the rumors of the murder of A.A. Babchenko began, corresponding statements were made by the Ukrainian Prime Minister and other officials, directly accusing Russia of involvement in this. Now the Ukrainian authorities have completely taken a course to …

  • Head of Ukraine's Naftogaz believes termination of Gazprom’s contract was Kremlin’s decision

    Naftogaz CEO Andriy Kobolyev expressed the opinion that Gazprom’s decision to terminate its contracts with the Ukrainian company originated in the Kremlin.

    “The decision to refuse to perform the contract was not made by Gazprom. I believe that it was made in the Kremlin,” Kobolyev said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

    According to Kobolyev, Russia reduced the pressure on the gas pipeline for transit to Europe by 20%. The pressure deficiency forced Ukraine to use electric power to …

  • Ukrainian President: Russia has unleashed 'World Hybrid War'

    Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said that the hybrid war in Ukraine, which Russia unleashed, is gradually affecting other countries, the Presidential press service reported.

    "Today, there is nothing for us but to acknowledge that the hybrid war being waged by Russia is gradually turning into a full-fledged World Hybrid War... I am the one to warn you that there are no limits in the Kremlin as regards its hidden agenda. There is no country, which is so familiar with Moscow’s hybrid …

  • Kremlin: Ukraine must be ready to surrender its eastern regions

    Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee for Commonwealth of Independent States Affairs, Leonid Kalashnikov, while commenting on Ukraine’s intention to recognize the USSR as an occupier, said that Ukraine must be ready to give up Kharkiv, Dnipro, Donbas and other territories handed over to it in Soviet times, reports RIA Novosti.

    According to the Russian deputy, half what today comprises Ukraine would have to be returned to Russia.

    “If you take this seriously, half of what comprises …

  • Media: Kremlin gave LPR leader Plotnitsky final chance to rectify situation in the republic

    In the conflict between the head of the self-declared Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) Igor Plotnitsky and LPR Interior Minister Igor Kornet, whom Plotnitsky fired, the Kremlin has sided with the latter, a source close to Russian Presidential Aide Vladislav Surkov told RBC news agency.

    The source noted that Plotnitsky is not yet being threatened with dismissal – he has been given a “final chance”.

    “If Donetsk is quite independent from the Kremlin, and essentially their relationship can be …

  • Russian soldiers surrounded in Syria, Kremlin blames U.S.

    As a result of an offensive in Syria, three soldiers of the Russian Special Operations Forces were wounded. It happened in the province of Idlib during an attack by the rebels of the Jebhat al-Nusra group, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported.

    According to the report, Russian military police were surrounded, and commandos who came to their aid were injured.

    “This offensive was initiated by U.S. intelligence services to stop the advance of government troops east of Deir ez-Zor,” said …