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by Joe Jackson with Anna Smolchenko in Moscow © Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The former Russian spy who was found slumped in an English city after being poisoned is no longer in critical condition and is “improving rapidly”, the hospital treating him said Friday. It was the first news of Sergei Skripal’s health improving since the 66-year-old ex-double agent and his daughter Yulia were found poisoned on a bench on March 4 […]
by Dave Clark © Agence France-Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The United States struck President Vladimir Putin’s inner circle Friday, imposing sanctions on seven of Russia’s most influential oligarchs and stoking a diplomatic crisis some have dubbed a new Cold War. Those hit include metals magnate Oleg Deripaska, described as operating for the Russian government, as well as Alexei Miller, director of state-owned energy giant Gazprom. Any assets they hold in areas under US […]
by Andrea Palasciano Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The popular messaging app Telegram risks being blocked in Russia after refusing demands to hand over its encryption keys to give the FSB security service access to users’ data. Here are four things to know about the company, which says it has 200 million active users: – Whizz-kid billionaire – Known as Russia’s Mark Zuckerberg after the Facebook boss, Pavel Durov has amassed a […]
by Theo Merz Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s telecoms watchdog on Friday asked a Moscow court to block the popular messaging app Telegram after the expiry of a deadline for it to give the state security services access to private conversations. The lawsuit is the latest move in an ongoing battle between authorities and Telegram, which has a reputation for secure communications, as Moscow pushes to increase surveillance of internet activities. […]
UNITED NATIONS, United States (AFP) — Russia unleashed a blistering war of words against Britain and the United States at the UN Security Council on Thursday, again denying it was responsible for poisoning a former double agent in England. “It’s some sort of theater of the absurd. Couldn’t you come up with a better fake story?” Russian Ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, told the council. “We have told our British colleagues that ‘you’re playing […]
by Raziye Akkoc and Maria Panina Agence France Presse ANKARA, Turkey (AFP) — The presidents of Iran, Turkey, and Russia vowed to work for a lasting ceasefire after over seven years of civil war in Syria, following a summit aimed at boosting both peace prospects and also their influence in the country. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Iran’s Hassan Rouhani, and Russia’s Vladimir Putin reaffirmed their commitment to cooperating for “the achievement of a lasting […]
OTTAWA, Canada (AFP) — NATO does not want a new arms race with Russia, the alliance’s secretary general said Wednesday amid heightened tensions following an ex-spy’s poisoning in England. “We don’t want a new arms race, so we are focused on how can we respond” in a “firm strong predictable, but also measured and defensive, way,” Jens Stoltenberg told reporters alongside Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa. “We don’t want a new Cold War,” he […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The head of Russia’s SVR foreign intelligence agency said Wednesday the poisoning of a Russian former double agent in Britain was a “grotesque provocation” by the British and US security services. “Even when it comes to the grotesque provocation with the Skripals that was crudely concocted by the British and American security services, a number of European countries are in no rush to unquestioningly follow London and Washington but prefer […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — The Kremlin has demanded an apology from British Prime Minister Theresa May and her government which implicated President Vladimir Putin in the nerve agent attack on a former double agent, saying this “idiocy has gone too far” “Their theory will not be confirmed in any case because it is not possible to confirm it,” Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a visit to Ankara Tuesday evening. “And the British foreign minister who […]
By Anna Smolchenko with Marina Koreneva in Saint Petersburg Agence France Presse Russia expelled diplomats from 23 countries Friday in a wave of retaliatory measures against the West in a spy row, the biggest wave of tit-for-tat expulsions in recent memory. The Russian foreign ministry said in a statement that it had summoned the heads of missions from 23 countries earlier to tell them that some of their diplomats had to leave the country. Germany […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Friday informed the Dutch ambassador of the expulsion of two diplomats in a tit-for-tat measure over the poisoning of a former Russian double agent in Britain, TASS state news agency reported. Dutch Ambassador Renee Jones-Bos told TASS state news agency: “Two of my colleagues are leaving Moscow. But we (the embassy) are staying here.” © Agence France-Presse
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Thursday said Syrian forces had “nearly wiped out the terrorists” in the rebel-held enclave of Eastern Ghouta. Backed by the Russian military since 2015, the Syrian regime in February launched a massive offensive against rebels in the Damascus suburb, killing more than 1,600 civilians. “As a result of this anti-terrorism operation in Eastern Ghouta, terrorist elements have nearly been wiped out of this suburb of […]
