Russia

Russian navy welcomes most-advanced nuclear-powered attack sub
The Russian Navy has officially accepted K-560 Severodvinsk, the most advanced nuclear-powered multipurpose submarine Russia has ever produced. Severodvinsk is the lead of the Yasen-class submarines, which are to become the backbone of the Russian Navy’s conventional submarine force. [...]
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Gazprom puts Ukraine on gas prepayment plan after “€˜chronic”€™ failure to pay debt
After failing to pay its gas bill, Ukraine now has to pay in advance for any natural gas from Russia, Gazprom said on Monday. Both companies have filed lawsuits against each other at the Stockholm Arbitration Court. “This decision was taken due to systematic failure of Naftogaz Ukraine to pay. [...]
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Russia and Ukraine fail to reach gas deal ahead of cut-off deadline
Russia and Ukraine failed to resolve a gas pricing dispute during Sunday talks in Kiev. Gazprom says its demands have not changed and Kiev is expected to pay its debt of $1.95 billion by 06:00 GMT on Monday, otherwise the gas supply will be stopped. Gazprom’s position remained unchanged after EU-brokered negotiations finally ended around 2:30 a.m. Moscow time (10:30 p.m. GMT) on Monday [...]
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Ukrainian APC with troops breaches Russian border
At least one Ukrainian armored vehicle crossed the Russian border with Ukraine Friday overnight and stopped in the Rostov Region, according to Russia'€™s Security Service. The military abandoned the vehicle and returned to Ukraine. [...]
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Russian nuclear-capable bombers intercepted off California coast
A spokesperson for the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) confirmed this week that a fleet of Russian bombers set off alarms in the United States after coming within 50 miles of California'€™s Pacific coast. Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a spokesman for NORAD, told Washington Free Beacon reporter Bill Gertz that a pair of Tu-95 Bear H aircraft maintained by Russia came close to US airspac [...]
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€˜”No more delays”€™: Gazprom CEO sets hard deadline for Ukraine gas payment
Gazprom will not postpone Ukraine’s gas payment deadline set for Monday, CEO Aleksey Miller said. If Kiev fails to pay and therefore causes gas transit problems to Europe, Russia will pump more through the Nord Stream and Yamal-Europe pipelines. [...]
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Putin Calls Ukraine’s Gas Price Demands ‘Dead End’ | Business
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine on Wednesday of forcing gas talks into a "dead end" by rejecting a price cut offer made amid a row threatening supplies to the rest of Europe. As Kiev demanded contract changes to lower the highest prices in Europe for Russian gas supplies, Moscow also dug in its heels, suggesting its proposed price cut of about one-fifth to around $385 per 1,000 cu [...]
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Russia launches Baltic war games alongside NATO’€™s
The Baltic Sea and skies are getting crowded as Russia launches military training of its assault forces in the exclave of Kaliningrad in answer to the double war-games being conducted by joint NATO forces on the territory of the three Baltic States. NATO’s decision to conduct dual war games next to Russian borders in the Baltic has not been left unaddressed by Russia’s Defense Ministry, [...]
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“€˜Bon appétit,”€™ Putin tells G7 leaders dishing the dirt on Russia in Brussels
President Putin wished "€œBon appétit"€ to G7 leaders who patronized Russia – excluded from the club over Ukraine -€“ and set conditions it has to meet to restore ties with the West. Otherwise, Obama and his allies threatened, more sanctions would follow. [...]
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Russian troops in Ukraine? Got any proof?’ Putin’s best quotes from French media talk – Video
Vladimir Putin faced a barrage of tricky questions from French media ahead of his meeting with world leaders at the 70th anniversary of the Normandy landings. Here are his best replies on key issues: Ukraine, Crimea and relations with the US. [...]
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Eastern energy pivot threatens the US dollar
The "€œPower of Siberia"€ is much more than a 30 year Sino-Russian gas/pipeline deal. Paying for the process accelerates the vogue to reduce dollar pricing. That, not the energy supply, will become the most acute threat to US economic hegemony. [...]
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Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan sign ‘€˜epoch’ Eurasian Economic Union
Russia, Belarus, and Kazakhstan signed the historic Eurasian Economic Union which will come into effect in January 2015. Cutting down trade barriers and comprising over 170 million people it will be the largest common market in the ex-Soviet sphere. [...]
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Europe doesn’€™t want Russian sanctions -€“ St. Pete forum delegates to RT
While this year'€™s Int Economic Forum in St Petersburg saw fewer foreign guests due to sanctions tension, those who chose to leave politics aside told RT imposing economic restrictions on Moscow would mean "€œcutting the trees"€ they are "€œsitting on." [...]
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China to become Russia’s biggest gas consumer if western route developed
China could replace Germany as Russia's biggest gas consumer, if Moscow and Beijing agree to add a route from Russia'€™s Western Siberia to the one already agreed under a $400 billion contract, President Putin said at a meeting with media in St. Petersburg. [...]
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€‹Russia and China seal historic $400bn gas deal
After 10 years of negotiations, Russia's Gazprom and China's CNPC have finally signed a historic gas deal which will provide the world's fastest growing economy with the natural gas it needs to keep pace for the next 30 years. The total value of the contract is $400 billion, Gazprom CEO Aleksey Miller said. However, the price of gas stipulated in the document remains a "commercial secret." [...]
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The birth of a Eurasian century: Russia and China do Pipelineistan
A specter is haunting Washington, an unnerving vision of a Sino-Russian alliance wedded to an expansive symbiosis of trade and commerce across much of the Eurasian land mass - at the expense of the United States. And no wonder Washington is anxious. That alliance is already a done deal in a variety of ways: [...]
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Russia & China: “€˜No to sanctions rhetoric, regime change in other countries”
Moscow and Beijing have rejected the imposition of sanctions as political tools and condemned attempts at "encouraging and financing"€ regime changes in other countries in a joint statement released during President Putin'€™s official visit to China. [...]
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Russia’€™s VTB and Bank of China agree on domestic currency settlements
VTB, Russia'€™s second biggest lender, has signed a deal with Bank of China, which includes an agreement to pay each other in domestic currencies. “Under the agreement, the banks plan to develop their partnership in a number of areas, including cooperation on ruble and renminbi settlements, investment banking, inter-bank lending, trade finance and capital-markets transactions,” says the offi [...]
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Unprotected in the East: NATO Appears Toothless in Ukraine Crisis
They were big words, spoken almost as if they had been written in stone. "Our commitment to collective defence is rock solid, now and for the future," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said more than a week ago, first in the Polish capital Warsaw and then, on the same day, in the Estonian capital Tallinn. [...]
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Russia-China ties at highest level in history -€“ Putin
Russia-China cooperation has reached its highest level ever, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said in an interview with Chinese media on the eve of his visit to Shanghai, where a record package of documents is expected to be signed by the two nations. [...]
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Stalin and the USSR – Myth & Reality
Dan, a member of Red Youth and the CPGB-ML, presents the facts of Stalin's life and contribution to the Bolshevik cause, before, during and after the October Revolution. In his own words: "Why bother discussing Stalin and the Soviet Union today? The case is closed, every news article adds a mandatory ‘dictator’ or ‘totalitarian’ as a prefix." Life in the Soviet Union is depicted - en [...]
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EU, US reaffirm ‘energy independence’ gameplan
US and EU diplomats have said they will help Ukraine cut back on Russian gas, and also promised to help diversify the Russian-dominated European energy market, a difficult long term task for energy-dependent EU countries. US Secretary of State John Kerry, EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton and other energy advisers met in Brussels on Wednesday for an energy summit. [...]
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