Swiss freeze assets of Belarus leader Lukashenko December 12, 2020 Switzerland has frozen the financial assets of the president of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, following the violent aftermath of the elections in the east European country. Lukashenko and son Viktor are among 15 people banned from entering or travelling through Switzerland, the government said. The individuals are alleged to be responsible for the use of violence [...]
Ukraine and Russia complete prisoner swap in bid to improve ties September 7, 2019 Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners in a long-awaited deal that is widely hoped will reduce tensions between the pair. Among the 70 prisoners freed were the 24 Ukrainian sailors, a “person of interest” regarding the crash of flight MH17 that took the lives of 298 people, and Ukrainian film director Oleg Sentsov. Read more: [...]
IMF chief Christine Lagarde says Ukraine is showing “signs of turning the corner” September 6, 2015 International Monetary Fund (IMF) boss Christine Lagarde has said that Ukraine's economic reforms are starting to yield results, and the country is on the cusp of "turning the corner". Lagarde stressed she was "extremely encouraged" by the recent progress towards stabilising Ukraine's economy, even against a backdrop of difficult circumstances. The heavily indebted country has suffered amid [...]
Ukrainian central bank cuts interest rate to 27 per cent as it secures debt relief from creditors August 27, 2015 Ukraine has cut its interest rate to 27 per cent, a reduction of three percentage points – despite having inflation of 55.3 per cent in July. The Ukrainian central bank said in a statement: "Tight monetary policy pursued by the National Bank of Ukraine for the past six months has significantly contributed to reducing inflation [...]
Putin is about to win his cynical bet in Ukraine: The West is truly dead August 23, 2015 I am becoming worryingly convinced that Vladimir Putin must be a big fan of this column. Just a few days on from me revealing that he is odds-on favourite to become the super-villain in the next Bond caper, the Russian President confirmed my worst suspicions. Falling back on one of his late-Roger-Moore-era stunts, Putin piloted [...]
Russia freezes gas supplies to Ukraine July 1, 2015 Russian gas company Gazprom announced today that it has stopped all natural gas supplies to Ukraine, after a bid to hash out a quarterly price agreement between the two countries fell through. "Ukraine did not pay for July gas supplies," Gazprom said in a statement. "Gasprom halted gas supplies to Ukraine from 10am (7.00am GMT) [...]
Rouble dips as EU leaders agree to extend sanctions on Russia June 17, 2015 The rouble fell 0.4 per cent against the dollar to $0.01848 in the early afternoon after reports suggested ambassadors from all 28 EU member states had agreed to extend sanctions against Russia by six months. Reuters reported sources saying the sanctions, which were due to expire in July, will run until January next year. Imposed [...]
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to meet Vladimir Putin on 18 June, as fears grow Greece could break Ukraine sanctions June 6, 2015 Greece last night played a new card in the tense stand-off with its creditors and turned to Russia for help, reigniting fears the country could break EU sanctions over Ukraine. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said the austerity measures leveled at his country were “absurd.” He said the Eurozone and the IMF – Greece’s creditors [...]
Nick Clegg and seven other British officials named on Russian black list May 31, 2015 Eight British officials have been named on a Russian list of European politicians and military leaders who have been banned from the country. The list was compiled by the Russian foreign ministry and handed to an EU delegation in Moscow this week. A document, leaked in Germany, lists of 89 Europeans who are banned from the country, [...]
Putin praises David Cameron for 7 May win but talk on Ukraine crisis remains icy May 25, 2015 Prime Minister David Cameron received a rare phone call yesterday when Russian president Vladimir Putin rang Number 10 to congratulate Cameron on the Conservatives’ success at the General Election. According to Downing Street, the two leaders spoke about Syria and the Ukraine during the 30-minute phone call. A Number 10 spokesperson said that Cameron and [...]