Crimea means more to Russia than the Falklands mean to Britain, Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday after holding last-ditch talks on the region with his U.S. counterpart John Kerry.
Russia is planning to expand its permanent military presence outside its borders by placing military bases or seeking permission for navy ships to use ports in a number of foreign countries, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Wednesday. The list includes Vietnam, Cuba, Venezuela, Nicaragua, the Seychelles, Singapore and several other countries
President Barack Obama has been demoted to second place from Forbes' Most Powerful People list which has named Russia's President Vladimir Putin as the leader of the pack.
Argentine President Cristina Fernández left on Tuesday for Russia to attend the G20 summit to begin next Thursday at the Constantine Palace in Saint Petersburg. The president flew on her office’s Tango 01 to Morocco where she changed aircraft to avoid any possible injunction from hedge funds on the presidential transport.
White House officials say they are “extremely disappointed” by Russia’s decision to grant asylum for one year to Edward Snowden, who is accused of leaking U.S. government secrets. Officials are deciding how to respond.
The Kremlin's security agency is buying up typewriters to avoid damaging leaks in a move said to be motivated by the recent US surveillance scandals. Russia's Federal Protective Service, the KGB's successor in charge of protecting President Vladimir Putin and his officials, placed an order for 20 typewriters, according to the state procurement website.
The plane carrying Bolivian President Evo Morales home from Russia was rerouted to Austria on Tuesday after France and Portugal refused to let it cross their airspace because of suspicions that NSA leaker Edward Snowden was on board, the country's foreign minister said.
Russian state oil company Rosneft has agreed to double its oil supplies to China, in a deal worth 270bn dollars over 25 years. Under the terms of the deal, Rosneft will supply 300.000 barrels of oil a day to China starting in 2015.
Russia is back. President Vladimir Putin wants the world to acknowledge that Russia remains a global power. He is making his stand in Syria. The Soviet Union acquired the Tartus Naval Port in Syria in 1971 without any real purpose for it. With their ships welcomed in Algeria, Cuba or Vietnam, Tartus was too insignificant to be developed. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia lacked the funds to spend on the base and no reason to invest in it.
Europe's trade chief threatened to take Russia to the World Trade Organization over a string of restrictive practices, saying Moscow needed to play by the rules now it was a member of the global body.