Hotest News from Russia

Moscow Asserts Right to Respond to US Sanctions

2014/04/29

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow retains the right to respond to sanctions imposed by Washington, but cooperation between the two countries is still possible, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

“Russia retains its right to appropriately respond to the unfriendly steps against [Russia], including the introduction of any kind of sanction limitations against the Americans,” according to a statement published on the Russian Foreign Ministry's website.

“At the same time, we believe that bilateral cooperation will be needed to resolve a wide range of issues on the international agenda and settle the crisis in various regions in the world,” the statement said.

On Monday, the United States imposed sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans, against 7 Russian individuals and 17 Russian companies linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “inner circle.”

The European Union followed the US move on Tuesday, announcing sanctions on 15 additional Russian and Ukrainian officials. Most of those listed in the EU sanctions expanded on the US list.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that talking in the language of sanctions is “inappropriate and counterproductive” and warned its Western partners about the “boomerang effect” that sanctions would have.

OPINION: St. George Ribbon Event Commemorates Soviet Valor

2014/04/29

BAKU, Azerbaijan, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – The international St. George Ribbon campaign serves to remind Soviet allies of their victory in World War II, said Boris Voronin, the head of the Russian community in Azerbaijan.

“Less than 2,000 World War II veterans remain in Azerbaijan, and the St. George Ribbon event is a memory of that war and a tribute to the feats of valor performed by millions of Soviet people,” Voronin said Tuesday during a video conference that linked up Azerbaijan, Moldova, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Georgia and Russia.

Voronin said that Azerbaijan had always revered the memory of World War II and the state regularly provides assistance to surviving war veterans. Special benefits for those who survived the war against German invaders were ordered by the late Azeri President Heydar Aliyev and his successor Ilham Aliyev, the chief of the Russian community said.

Azerbaijan has run the St. George Ribbon campaign since 2007. It traditionally unites all local ethnic communities – Tatars, Lezgians, Kazakhs – and youth organizations. “Our citizens treat this event with extraordinary respect,” Voronin added.

The first annual St George’s Ribbon took place in 2005. Since then, on the eve of Victory Day, people would pin black-and-orange ribbons to their clothes and cars to commemorate the Soviet victory in the Great Patriotic War as a sign of eternal gratitude to the veterans who saved the world from Nazism.

Tokyo’s Sanctions Against Russia Will Not Go Unanswered – Moscow

2014/04/29

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – Moscow will respond to Tokyo’s sanctions against a number of Russian citizens, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

“The decision of Tokyo to introduce visa sanctions against a number of Russian citizens was perceived by Moscow with disappointment and, certainly will not go unanswered. This clumsy step was obviously taken under foreign influence and directly opposite statements by Tokyo on the importance of the development of relations with Russia,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.

Lukashevich underlined that imposing sanctions against Russia is counterproductive.

“The participation of Japan in the attempts of exercising pressure can no way allow the easing of the tension in Ukraine,” Lukashevich said.

The Japanese government said Tuesday it will impose additional sanctions against Russia over the ongoing crisis in Ukraine, the Kyodo news agency reported.

Tokyo said it will deny visas to 23 Russian nationals, including government officials, amid Moscow’s “lack of visible action to reduce tensions in Ukraine,” the report said.

The move came after the United States on Monday imposed sanctions against 7 Russian individuals and 17 Russian companies, accusing Moscow of failing to meet its Geneva commitments and further escalating the crisis.

Japan introduced its first package of sanctions against Russia in mid-March, including the suspension of consultations on easing visa requirements and freezing the planned launch of talks on signing agreements on investment and space cooperation.

On Tuesday, the European Union imposed sanctions on 15 additional Russian and Ukrainian officials. Most of those listed in the EU sanctions expand on the United States' list.

Moscow has repeatedly warned that talking in the language of sanctions is "inappropriate and counterproductive" and warned its Western partners about the "boomerang effect" that sanctions would have.

Russia's Prosecutor General Blasts Sanctions Against Russia

2014/04/29

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prosecutor General Yury Chaika said Tuesday that the West's sanctions against Russia were "ungrounded."

"I believe that this doesn't fit into any frame, starting with the ‘Magnitsky Law,'" Chaika said during a session of the country's upper house of parliament, the Federation Council.

The European Union on Tuesday imposed sanctions on 15 additional Russian and Ukrainian officials. The EU Council said in a statement it had decided to expand the existing list of sanctioned individuals "in view of the gravity of the situation" in Ukraine, where clashes continue between pro-federalization activists and Ukrainian troops.

The news came after the US Treasury announced Monday it had imposed sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans, on seven Russian individuals as well as 17 Russian companies linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin's "inner circle."

White House spokesman Jay Carney said the sanctions were in response to Crimea's reunification with Russia, which the United States does not acknowledge, as well as Russia's stance on Ukraine.

Russia has in the past responded to such targeted sanctions in a proportional manner. A 2012 US blacklist of Russian officials blamed for the death of whistleblowing lawyer Sergei Magnitsky in 2009 spurred the country last year to retaliate with a similar list of US officials banned from entering the country.

Russian Foreign Ministry Dismisses New EU Sanctions

2014/04/29

MOSCOW, April 29 (RIA Novosti) – The European Union’s new sanctions targeting 15 Russian and Ukrainian individuals cannot help but cause rejection, the Russian Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.

“The approval by the European Union of a new portion of sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian citizens cannot but cause rejections,” the ministry said in a statement.

“Instead of making the Kiev clique sit at the negotiations table with southeastern Ukraine on the future structure of the country, our partners are going along with Washington with newer and newer unfriendly gestures toward Russia,” the ministry said.

The actions by Brussels bear witness to the fact that there is “a full misunderstanding of the domestic political situation” in Ukraine, the statement added.

On Monday, the United States imposed sanctions, including asset freezes and visa bans, against 7 Russian individuals and 17 Russian companies allegedly linked to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “inner circle.”

The European Union followed the US move on Tuesday, announcing sanctions on 15 additional Russian and Ukrainian officials. Most of those listed in the EU sanctions expanded on the US list.

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