Eastern Ukraine has recently seen its worst period of attacks by Russian-backed separatists since they captured the town of Debaltseve in February. It had fallen in the days after the two sides reached the Minsk-2 ceasefire agreement. Ukraine, Russia and the West have repeatedly underlined the importance of Minsk 2, but whether it has been … Continue reading
An Argentine Minister of Foreign Relations , Hector Timerman, has challenged Prime Minister David Cameron over the British claim on the Falkland Islands during a summit in Brussels, RT reports. A Downing Street spokesperson said: “At the dinner, the prime minister robustly defended the Falklands and the islanders’ right to self-determination in response to the … Continue reading
What’s the connection between the G7 summit in Germany, President Putin’s visit to Italy, the Bilderberg club meeting in Austria, and the TTIP – the US-EU free trade deal – negotiations in Washington? By Pepe Escobar We start at the G7 in the Bavarian Alps – rather G1 with an added bunch of “junior partners” … Continue reading
The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is experiencing a modest economic recovery, despite the sharp drop in oil prices and deepening conflicts, the IMF says in its latest regional assessment. The Regional Economic Outlook Update, released on May 5, projects that growth will increase slightly to about 3 percent in 2015 (see table). … Continue reading
Ukraine’s economy has contracted by 25 percent amid conflict in the country’s eastern regions and hundreds of businesses have been forced to close, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk said on Tuesday during a conference call with regional governors over budget fulfillment, Russian news media reports. “We have lost a quarter of the Ukrainian economy. Because of the war … hundreds of companies have been closed,” … Continue reading
Will the Minsk Agreement hold? Probably not. The West, the US in particular, has too much at stake in desiring its failure, and if Obama-Nuland style gamesmanship/adventurism is up to the mark, expect not-so-subtle sabotage and the resumption of hostilities. By Norman Pollack This is madness like not before. Neither Kennan nor Kissinger would have … Continue reading
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday that he is ready to impose martial law across the country if no agreements are reached at the summit in Minsk, TASS News Agency reports. The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine are meeting in the Belarusian capital, Minsk, on Wednesday to discuss a last-ditch attempt to negotiate a political … Continue reading
Vladimir Putin met in Sochi with President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko. By The Kremlin PRESIDENT OF RUSSIA VLADIMIR PUTIN: Mr Lukashenko, I am very pleased to have this opportunity to meet and discuss our bilateral affairs and development of the integration process between Russia and Belarus within the Union State and also within the new … Continue reading
By Finian Cunningham The Ukraine crisis dominated the weekend’s Munich Security Conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel playing host to European and American leaders, as well as Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Merkel had just returned from Moscow where she reportedly had a four-hour meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin along with French leader Francois Hollande. … Continue reading
By Simone Orendain The Philippines lodged diplomatic protests with China over two alleged fishing-related incidents at Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea, the site of a tense standoff between the two countries three years ago. The Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs released a statement saying the country “strongly protested China’s continuing actions to harass and … Continue reading