GORKI, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russia should step up its presence on Asia-Pacific markets especially given the current deterioration in relations with a number of other countries, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said Monday.

“It is possible to improve the conditions for cooperation with these countries, which we have been building up for y...

BRUSSELS, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – The foreign ministers of EU member states have approved sanctions against two Crimean companies and 13 individuals over the situation in Ukraine, a diplomatic source in the EU told RIA Novosti.

“The sanctions against two Crimean companies and 13 persons were adopted. I will not mention their citizenship. They will b...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian parliament will take into account the position of Donetsk and Luhansk in further relations with Ukraine, Russian lawmaker Leonid Slutsky said Monday.

"Taking advantage of its sovereign right, the people of the southeast [of Ukraine] decided to hold a referendum to express their position. Actually, we were...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – Energy relations between Russia and the European Union have never been so politicized as they are now, not even during the Cold War, the deputy chairman of the energy committee in Russia’s lower house of parliament said Monday.

“Unfortunately, even though the issues of gas supplies and gas prices are really c...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – The Russian capital is being considered as a possible replacement host for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games amid doubts that facilities in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro will be completed on time, a source in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) told R-Sport Monday.

The source added that Moscow's ability to afford the...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused the regime in Kiev of unleashing troops and far-right radicals against Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions to foil self-rule referendums on Sunday.

“We noticed a massive voter turnout despite the attempts to foil the vote, including attempts to achieve this [goal] u...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – The Kremlin said Monday it respects the choice that the people in Ukraine’s southeastern Donetsk and Luhansk provinces made during referendums on self-rule on Sunday and hopes the government in Kiev will follow suit.

“Moscow respects the expression of will of the population in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and j...

MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) – Discussing any compromises with Kiev over gas issues will only be possible after Ukraine pays its outstanding debt for Russian gas deliveries, Deputy Russian Energy Minister Anatoly Yanovsky said Monday.

“To discuss any compromise, [Ukraine] needs to pay the debt," Yanovsky told journalists at a RIA Novosti press c...