There are no grounds to keep Russia sanctions in place, said member of the French National Assembly Thierry Mariani, who heads the parliamentary delegation currently on a two-day visit to Crimea. “As the US is lifting Cuba blockades, I see no reasons for Europe to keep Russia sanctions in place,” Mariani told reporters after speaking at the Crimean Parliament in Simferopol on Thursday. [...]

The US has created a loophole in the sanctions that it implemented against Russia to allow communications software to be sent to Crimea. Washington wants to increase its influence in the area, but critics say the move is a waste of money. A Commerce Department spokesperson, who asked not to be named, told Reuters, "The general license allows personal Internet-based communications – such as so [...]

Kiev will nationalize Russian overseas property as compensation for the losses over Crimea's reunification with Russia, Ukraine's Deputy Minister of Justice Natalia Sevostyanova said. The decision is now up to the European Court of Human Rights. Ukraine will be able to use this effective instrument if the European Court of Human Rights rules in favor of Kiev, Sevostyanova told “Channel 5,” [...]

The Russian military has put together nearly 100 units and organizations in the Crimea last year as part of the program of deploying a self-sufficient group of forces at the peninsula, Sergey Shoigu, Russia's Defense minister, said. "In accordance with the presidential order, we were instructed to deploy a self-sufficient combined group of forces in the Crimean Peninsula capable of effectively [...]

Crimean head Sergei Aksenov said that after the establishment of Crimea as a free trade zone, businessmen from a number of European Union member states and Israel have visited the republic and expressed their interest in investing in the region. [...]

A well-monitored vote should be held in Crimea to let the people of Crimea decide if they want to be Russians or Ukrainians, US Congressman Dana Rohrabacher said at the annual US-Russia Forum in Washington DC. Crimea's secession from Ukraine took place after a new government was installed in Kiev through a coup in February, 2014, which alienated Crimea's majority Russian-speaking population of [...]

The chief prosecutor of Russia's Crimean Republic says Ukrainian law enforcers threatened her with prison and death for accepting the post, but failed to make her fear them. “Agents from the Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office called me and threatened me, said that they would throw me in prison, that they would kill me, tear me into pieces,” Natalya Poklonskaya told TASS in an interview [...]

Two attempted terrorist attacks on the Crimean Prosecutor's Office have recently been prevented by members of the local People's Guard. So-called "prosecutie" Natalia Poklonskaya has also had previous threats. Two members of the guard prevented a couple of terrorist attacks that could have led to multiple casualties at Poklonskaya’s office, Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper reported Friday. [...]

Are the US, NATO and Russia on a mad spiral leading to war in Europe? Is it inevitable? Far from it. The US-propelled vassal Petro Poroshenko, currently starring in the oligarch dance in Ukraine this week advanced the proposition that Ukrainians in the near future, after his “reforms”, will be asked to vote on whether to join NATO. [...]

The West should not wait for Russia to solve the Ukraine crisis, but should instead try to influence the extreme policies of its "clients" in Kiev, Russian President Vladimir Putin told Hubert Seipel of the German channel ARD ahead of the G20 summit. Hubert Seipel: Good afternoon, Mr President. You are the only Russian President who has ever given a speech at the Bundestag. [...]

The chief director of ARD, Germany's largest public TV broadcaster, responded to viewers' criticism and the supervisory committee over its coverage of the Ukraine crisis. He said it conveyed Russian interests "too little" and could question NATO more. [...]

Six people, including two children died after their car fell into a monster sinkhole in the middle of the highway near the Crimean capital of Simferopol. The hole appeared to be 6 meters deep and 8 meters wide. The accident happened on the highway between Simferopol and the village of Nikolaevka on Saturday night, said the Emergencies Ministry’s press service in Crimea. The car with eight pas [...]

Aeroflot's new budget airline Dobrolet announced it is temporarily suspending flights and ticket sales due to “unprecedented pressure” from European partners as a result of economic sanctions. From August 4, due to “unprecedented pressure on Dobrolet from European counterparts, the carrier is forced to stop flights and ticket sales,” Aeroflot said in a statement released on Sunday. Pass [...]

The shooting down of MH17 in Ukraine's civil war is a terrible event. However, the American media and government grossly misrepresent the USA's role in creating the current situation, and coverage of Ukraine does credit to "Alice in Wonderland". Reporting is dominated by the usual suspects from the Brookings Institution, etc. spouting jingoistic nonsense. [...]

Moscow will respond to NATO's expansion towards Russia's borders, President Vladimir Putin said at the emergency Security Council meeting in Moscow. Here are his key quotes on Russia's defense, Western sanctions, and violence in eastern Ukraine. [...]

There is no doubt that the US has been meddling with the internal politics of Ukraine and continues to do so, though this time it has miscalculated, former MI5 agent, Annie Machon, told RT. It’s very interesting timing. The heads of the major Western intelligence agencies tend to have their diaries fairly well locked down for months in advance, so for him to suddenly have made this trip shows ei [...]

Russia's barrage of sarcastic comments to the Obama administration, which is seeking to impose sanctions to change Moscow'€™s stance on Ukraine, has been enriched with a piece of advice to relax and look for inner tranquility. The comments came from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov, who was speaking with Interfax news agency about the worst period of tension between Russia and the US over [...]

€‹Ukrainian McDonald'€™s Ltd, a subsidary of the world's largest fast food chain, has temporarily closed its doors in Crimea because of "€œmanufacturing reasons." “Due to reasons beyond the control of the company, business activities have been suspended in Simferopol, Sevastopol, and Yalta,” said a company statement posted on the Ukrainian website. [...]

Who would have thought a unitary superpower on Earth would accelerate a return to regionalism in place of globalization? For all those who deem ‘Financial Innovation’ to be an oxymoron, that brilliant invention the credit card springs to mind. [...]

US and European sanctions against Russia are designed to "€œpunish'€ its actions in Crimea. However, instead of forcing Russia into economic and political submission, the sanctions will spur the country to greater political and economic independence. [...]

Moscow will make Crimea a special economic zone with tax breaks to attract investors, Russian Prime Minister has announced at a government session in Crimea'€™s capital Simferopol.  “We made a decision to make Crimea a special economic zone,” Medvedev said. “Today the state duma began reviewing this legislation.” [...]

Luke Harding: Lenin's statue still stands in Donetsk where loyalty to the old regime and Russian propaganda have inspired protests against the Kiev 'fascists'. But is this really the next Crimea? In Donetsk's main square, Ukraine's communist leader, Petro Symonenko, was giving an impromptu address to the party faithful. [...]