Cars and aircraft could be next target for Russian sanctions August 19, 2014 Russia could hit back against Western nations with bans on imported cars if the US and the EU and introduce additional sanctions, Russin newspaper Vedomosti has reported. Russia's involvement in Ukraine has already led to a host of sanctions being imposed, including measures against the energy and finance sector and travel bans for top officials. [...]
Merkel backs Baltic states but rules out combat troops August 19, 2014 German Chancellor Angela Merkel has pledged to support the Baltic states against a possible Russian threat but refused to commit to the deployment of ground troops. Speaking in the Latvian capital Riga, Merkel said she supported "enhanced preparations" to deploy NATO forces to the region in case of an imminent threat. She reassured the Latvian [...]
Brussels set to make payouts for farmers hit by Putin’s sanctions August 18, 2014 EUROZONE fruit and vegetable farmers hit by the Russian government’s food sanctions are set for a payout, with Brussels pledging €125m (£99.9m) in compensation to those affected yesterday. The action is designed to help prop up food prices in the single market. Dacian Ciolos, the EU’s agriculture commissioner, said that the action was meant to [...]
Rosneft in deal to drill in the Arctic despite sanctions August 18, 2014 Rosneft, Russia's largest oil company, is about to drill for oil in the Arctic in tandem with a Norwegian company, despite the sanctions reaching for the Russian oil industry. Statoil is the firm in question: a state-run Norwegian company that will help Rosneft to drill in the Bering Sea. The site is inside the Artic [...]
Compensation for EU fruit and veg growers hit by Russian sanctions August 18, 2014 Fruit and vegetable growers in the European Union will receive emergency funding worth 125m euros from the European Commission. The funding represents compensation for the economic suffering that Russia's bans on western food imports are causing some European farmers. Russia placed a one-year embargo on a number of imports from the US, Canada, [...]
Eurozone exports to Russia down 14 per cent in 2014 August 18, 2014 Exports and imports between the Eurozone and Russia have plummeted in the period January to May, figures from Eurostat revealed today. There was a 14 per cent decline in exports from to Russia between January and June 2014 compared with the same period last year. Imports from Russia are also down seven per cent [...]
Russian and Ukrainian officials open truce talks in Berlin August 18, 2014 RUSSIAN and Ukrainian ministers are to meet in Berlin today to discuss a possible ceasefire, at talks which will also be attended by ministers from France and Germany. Ukrainian foreign minister Pavlo Klimkin and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, will be joined by Frank-Walter-Steinmeier of Germany and France’s Laurent Fabius at a meeting called to [...]
Pro-Russian rebels shoot down Ukrainian fighter aircraft as ministers meet for talks August 17, 2014 A Ukrainian jet fighter was shot down by pro-Russian rebels yesterday, just before key talks between Kiev and Moscow, aimed at de-escalating the fighting in the east of Ukraine. According to Agence France-Presse, Ukrainian officials revealed a MiG – 29 was downed as it flew to "eliminate a large group of terrorists." The timing of [...]
Russia says Ukraine aid convoy contains no military personnel August 16, 2014 Russia's defence secretary Sergey Shoygu has assured his US counterpart Chuck Hagel that an aid convoy heading for Ukraine contains no military personnel. Western countries have expressed concern that Russia is using the convoy as a pretext for sending more soldiers to the area, but Russia denies these allegations, saying that the purpose of the convoy [...]
Russian giant Rosneft pleads for $42bn state aid as sanctions bite August 14, 2014 OIL GIANT Rosneft announced yesterday that it was seeking a $42bn (£25.15bn) loan from a fund earmarked for Russian pensions to help it weather Western sanctions imposed after the crisis in Ukraine. Rosneft, one-fifth owned by BP and run by a close ally of President Vladimir Putin, produces more oil than Iraq or Iran and [...]