Tag: Russia

Germany’s BASF agrees oil merger with Russian tycoon’s firm

FRANKFURT AM MAIN, Germany (AFP) — German chemicals giant BASF has agreed to merge its Wintershall oil and gas unit with the DEA energy firm owned by Russia’s billionaire entrepreneur Mikhail Fridman. The multi-billion-euro deal will create “one of the largest independent European exploration and production companies” with “significant growth potential” and scope for synergies, BASF said in a statement late Thursday. BASF said it would initially hold 67 percent of shares in the joint venture, which […]

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Putin ‘deeply concerned’ at US Jerusalem move

  MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russian president Vladimir Putin is “deeply concerned” by Donald Trump’s decision to recognise Jerusalem as the Israeli capital, the Kremlin said in a statement Thursday. In a telephone conversation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Putin called for the Palestinians and Israel to “hold back” and renew negotiations. “This kind of measure can block possible paths to peace in the Middle East,” the Kremlin said of US President Trump’s move. […]

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Putin says no Russian Olympics boycott despite ‘political’ ban

by Anna Malpas Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said Russia would allow athletes to compete at the 2018 Winter Olympics under a neutral flag, after the country was banned from the Games over a state-orchestrated doping program. There had been speculation Moscow could boycott the Games entirely after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday barred the country from competition over what its chief Thomas Bach described as […]

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Putin will seek new term as Russia president

  by Anna Smolchenko Agence France Presse MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday said he would seek a new six-year term in March elections, a move that would make him the longest-serving Russian leader since Joseph Stalin. Putin, who has run Russia both as president and prime minister for the past 18 years, is expected to sail to victory, with only token opponents competing against him. “I will offer my candidacy for […]

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Russia banned from 2018 Winter Olympics over doping

by Eric Bernaudeau and Ben Simon Agence France-Presse LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP) — Russia was banned Tuesday from the 2018 Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee over its state-orchestrated doping program, but clean Russian athletes will be allowed to compete under an Olympic flag. The sanction was the toughest ever levelled by the IOC for drug cheating and was delivered just 65 days ahead of the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. In announcing the decision, IOC […]

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Ex-Trump aide Flynn pleads guilty to lying about Russia links

by Sébastien Blanc and Paul Handley Agence France Presse Donald Trump’s former top adviser Michael Flynn pleaded guilty Friday to lying to the FBI over his contacts with Russia, in a dramatic escalation of the probe into possible collusion between the president’s campaign team and Moscow. The 58-year-old Flynn — a retired three-star Army general — is the most senior figure indicted in special prosecutor Robert Mueller’s sprawling investigation into Russian interference in last year’s […]

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Russia rejects US call to cut North Korea ties: Lavrov

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia on Thursday rejected a US call to cut ties with North Korea in response to Pyongyang’s launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. “We see this negatively,” Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told journalists in the Belarusian capital Minsk, Russian news agencies reported. “We have repeatedly stated that the pressure of sanctions has been exhausted.” He accused the United States of seeking to provoke Kim Jong-Un’s regime and demanded to know whether Washington […]

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World Cup stadium rises from ashes of Battle of Stalingrad

by Dmitry Zaks © Agence France-Presse VOLGOGRAD, Russia (AFP) — First they dug up the bones and defused the bombs. Then Russia erected a light-as-air stadium for the 2018 World Cup that rises from the ground around which two million people died over 200 days in the Battle of Stalingrad — the tragic turning point of World War II. “Every millimetre of this soil is soaked in blood,” Volgograd Governor Andrei Bocharov said in an interview. “There […]

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Russian bombers hit militant targets in Syria’s Deir al-Zor

DEIR AL-ZOR, Syria (AFP) — The Russian defense ministry released on Thursday (November 23) a video footage of military jets, dropping bombs over militant targets in Syria. A written statement which accompanied the video said Russian jets which carried out air strikes on the Islamic State positions in Deir Al-Zor province took off both from Hmeimim air base and from an air base on the Russian territory. The size of Russia’s military force in Syria […]

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Russia says US terror listing of North Korea could lead to ‘catastrophe’

MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia said Thursday that the US decision to add North Korea to its terror blacklist was a “PR move” that could allow the situation on the peninsula to escalate into a global “catastrophe.” Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called US President Donald Trump’s move to place North Korea on the list of state sponsors of terrorism “another scaremongering act and PR move” that would not reduce tensions on the ground. “The […]

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Putin says he will talk to Trump following Assad meeting

SOCHI, Russia (AFP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin said he will talk to US counterpart Donald Trump on the telephone on Tuesday after an unannounced meeting with Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad in Sochi. “On the basis of our meeting today, I will hold consultations with the leaders of the countries that I already spoke about. There is already a planned talk with the Emir of Qatar today and tomorrow (another one) with the president of […]

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Leaders of Russia, Iran, Turkey meet to relaunch Syria peace process

by Maria PANINA Agence France Presse SOCHI, Russia (AFP) — The presidents of Russia, Turkey and Iran will meet on Wednesday for the first in a series of summits aimed at re-booting the peace process in Syria, now regime forces have an upper hand over rebels and the Islamic State group. Russian leader Vladimir Putin will host Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Iran’s Hassan Rouhani in the Black Sea resort of Sochi ahead of parallel […]

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