Russia's foreign minister believes that the peace plan offered by the Ukrainian president is "unrealistic" and calls of the US and the EU to persuade Kiev to stop using heavy artillery and airstrikes against the civilian population in the country's east. “We assume that the most important thing is for Washington and Brussels to demand Kiev do the same thing they demand in any other conflict: [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli have launched the construction of the first part of Gazprom’s Power of Siberia pipeline - which will deliver 4 trillion cubic meters of gas to China over 30 years. “The new gas branch will significantly strengthen the economic cooperation with countries in the Asia-Pacific region and above all - our key partner China,� [...]

Official Washington’s war-hysteria machine is running at full speed again after Russia unilaterally dispatched a convoy of trucks carrying humanitarian supplies to the blockaded Ukrainian city of Luhansk, writes ex-CIA analyst Ray McGovern. Before dawn broke in Washington on Saturday, “Ukrainian pro-Russian separatists” – more accurately described as federalists of southeast Ukraine who [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called on Kiev to start substantial talks on deescalating the crisis in eastern Ukraine. He added that it's an illusion to expect that the rebels would calmly watch their homes being destroyed. “We have agreed on a plan, so its realization must be pursued,” Putin told Channel 1 TV, adding that the Ukrainian government “must immediately start substantia [...]

Polish closure of its airspace for the plane of the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu will not go without an "appropriate response" as it caused a "real threat to flight safety," Russia's Foreign Ministry has stated. The diplomatic standoff on Friday took hours [...]

The British government will press other European nations at a meeting in Brussels on Saturday to block Russia from using the SWIFT banking network, Bloomberg reported, in what could be a dramatic expansion of sanctions. The British government will press other European nations at a meeting in Brussels on Saturday to block Russia from using the SWIFT banking network, Bloomberg reported, in what c [...]

The head of the CSTO says its peacekeepers are ready for any operations, including in Ukraine, but their deployment requires the go-ahead from leaders of all member-countries. "Deployment of the CSTO peacekeeping force can be ordered only by the Collective Security Council – the supreme body formed with heads of state of the member countries. By a joint decision these leaders can order the us [...]

All Ukrainian refugees of pension age will receive their pensions in Russia, Deputy PM Olga Golodets has said in a radio interview. She oversees the social and health policies of the government, and said that Russia and Ukraine had a bilateral agreement allowing citizens to receive pensions in another country if the need arises. “We will pay the pensions to the refugees,” Golodets told repo [...]

Russia's only reaction to NATO accusations of interfering militarily in Ukraine will be a consistent position of putting an end to bloodshed and establish dialogue between warring parties in Ukraine, Russia's FM said. No facts about Russian military being present on the territory of Ukraine have ever been presented, Sergey Lavrov pointed out, while speculation on the issue has been voiced repea [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has compared the shelling of east Ukrainian towns and cities by Kiev's troops to actions carried out by the Nazis during World War II. “Sad as it might seem, this reminds me of the events of World War II, when the German Nazi occupants surrounded our cities, like Leningrad, and directly shelled those cities and their inhabitants,” Putin said on Friday, speak [...]

The road to the Minsk summit this past Tuesday began to be paved when German Chancellor Angela Merkel talked to ARD public TV after her brief visit to Kiev on Saturday. Merkel emphasized, “A solution must be found to the Ukraine crisis that does not hurt Russia.” She added that "There must be dialogue. There can only be a political solution. There won't be a military solution to this con [...]

It makes no sense to comment in detail on the satellite imagery released by NATO as “proof” of Russia’s military involvement in Ukraine, Defense Ministry’s spokesman said, pointing out that even high NATO officials were hesitant to put their names on it. Referring to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Supreme Allied Commander Europe Philip Breedlove, and NATO Spokesperson Oan [...]

President Putin has called on the self-defense militias in Ukraine to provide Kiev's military units blocked in the east of the country with a safe humanitarian corridor to cross into Russia. “It is clear the militia has achieved a major success in intercepting Kiev’s military operation, which represents a grave danger to the population of Donbass and which has already led to the loss of man [...]

President Barack Obama acknowledged during an impromptu press conference on Thursday afternoon that the United States is considering new sanctions to impose against Russia over the escalating crisis in Ukraine. From the White House, Pres. Obama told reporters that he’s certain Russia is playing a direct role in the ongoing fighting in eastern Ukraine between anti-Kiev separatists and the coun [...]

Greece, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Germany... the chorus of voices demanding an end to Russian sanctions is starting to drown out the neocon warmongering efforts of the west... Last week Germany reported that in the second quarter, its GDP declined by 0.2%, worse than Wall Street consensus. [...]

Russian gas sector should not be subjected to EU sanctions despite the situation in Ukraine, EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger said Thursday. "Gas is not a suitable sector for sanctions, as in this case everyone will lose - Russia, Ukraine and the European Union," RIA Novosti cites Oettinger as saying. [...]

Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov attempted to dampen the escalating rhetoric around the Arctic, after his Canadian counterpart said his country was ready "to protect its sovereignty" in the resource-rich region. "The Arctic shouldn’t be dragged into the rhetoric of militarization,” the Russian official said during a Q & A at the Seliger youth forum in central Russia. [...]

Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the West started its “irrational attacks on Russia long before” this spring’s events in Ukraine, but insisted that Moscow is seeking to avoid “spiraling sanctions” with the EU and the US. “We are not interested in confrontation, we are not interested in a sanctions spiral,” the minister said in a speech to an audience at the Lake [...]

Europe will remain heavily reliant on Russian gas for at least until the 2020s and potentially much longer due to the lack of an alternative, according to a report from Fitch Ratings. The substitution of Russian gas is not expected, given the weak prospects for shale gas production, the lack of available imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) and the absence of significant pipeline projects in Eu [...]

Under the pretext of an 'overt' Russian threat, NATO is pushing for a "readiness action plan" that will bring the Cold War military bloc closer to Russian borders than ever - even despite objections from some NATO members. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the 28-nation military bloc, which meets next week in Cardiff, Wales, would attempt to overcome internal opposition and agre [...]

It is funny that at the talks between the leaders of the Eurasian Customs Union and Ukraine the European troika will be in attendance, whereas the real policy for Kiev is being drawn up in Washington, foreign affairs analyst Srdja Trifkovic told RT. “So far Washington has been playing a game of geopolitical encirclement of Russia which cannot be in the European interest, and which in the long [...]

Switching over to EU trade standards will cost Ukraine €165 billion over the next 10 years, Russian President Putin warned at a meeting with President Petro Poroshenko in Minsk on Tuesday. Moscow has long warned Kiev that signing the Association Agreement (AA) with the EU would be economic suicide, whereas Moscow is also poised to suffer a €2 billion blow, according to Putin. [...]