... place only at the level of the EU itself, the Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov told EurActiv.com in an exclusive interview.
Chizhov spoke to EurActiv’s Senior Editor, Georgi Gotev.
US-Russia relations are at a very low point over the Syria conflict, the US has suspended the ceasefire talks. Is it because the US and Russia cannot agree on what is Al-Nusra?
I wouldn’t put it that way. Al-Nusra (or whatever it may call itself now) is a terrorist organisation recognised as such ...
... was easy for them to talk about the use of nuclear weapons and not think of the consequences of such actions.
Of course, the world faces serious problems today: terror group Daesh (the self-proclaimed Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant), the war in Syria and Iraq, the migrant crisis, slow growth. But these are issues civilised nations are capable of solving one way or another.
The system of controlling nuclear weapons is falling apart. This system was an integral part of nuclear war prevention. ...
... unnecessary. If, however, the number of migrants at the border crossing was to increase considerably from last year’s peak, it might make things easier for the border guards.
Due to all these reasons, erecting a fence to contain refugees from Syria and other Arab countries is a pointless exercise.
The actual economic costs of constructing the fence are minor. There could still be considerable diplomatic costs IF there is a negative reaction from the Russian government. So far, this has not ...
Can Russia and the U.S. control their proxies?
Syria ceasefire deal, announced on September 9, 2016 after marathon talks between Russia and the United States, has been labelled as the best chance yet to halt the bloodshed in Syria’s five-year civil war. Although it is quite unlikely that the ...
The
Russia–U.S. agreement
on ceasefire in Syria signed on September 10, 2016 in Geneva became the high point of 14-hour talks and many months of diplomatic efforts on the part of Sergey Lavrov and John Kerry. Prior to that, the agreement received an important impetus during
a short meeting
between ...
... Moscow and the Kurds has provided Russia with a “Kurdish card”, that is, the ability to modulate its support to various Kurdish national ambitions throughout the Middle East, depending on what the Kremlin was seeking to obtain from Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran. The current Syrian crisis is no exception and has promoted the Russian-Kurdish (PYD[1]) partnership, especially during the period of harsh tensions between Russia and Turkey. This partnership has three goals: fighting terrorism, ...
... city of Gaziantep
on August 20, 2016 and the
shelling of the border town of Karkamış
by militants, Turkey
has announced the launch of
Shield of the Euphrates
operation, the aim of which is to destroy the militants’ bases in the Turkey–Syria border regions.
On the first day of the operation on August 24, Turkish fighter jets and artillery liquidated
more than 80 terrorist targets
. Backed by Turkish troops, the Free Syrian Army carried out an offensive of its own, taking control of ...
On August 15, 2016 Russian aircraft arrived at the Iranian air base Hamadan and
the following day
flew first combat missions, bombing Islamic State and Jabhat An-Nusra (now Jabhat Fateh ash-Sham) targets in the Syrian provinces of Aleppo and Deir Ezzor. Since then Russia has
intensified
bombings of terrorist targets including
three launches
of Kalibr cruise missile from the Mediterranean on Aug. 19.
Just six days after that, on August, 22 Iranian Defense Minister ...
Russia’s recent use of an Iranian air base to bomb targets across Syria marks a striking new development in the history of Russian-Iranian relations. Throughout the nineteenth and much of the twentieth centuries, Iran had unsuccessfully resisted Russian designs to control its land and influence its politics. Iran’s ...
To a casual observer, it may seem surprising. Russian speakers form one of the largest groups among Islamic State’s (ISIS) foreign fighters. For over 10 months, Russia has been actively involved in the conflict in Syria. The Russian North Caucasus remains a region of perennial instability. A Kiev-based Crimean Tartar group has vowed to take direct action against what it calls the Russian occupation of the peninsula. Yet, so far, Russia seems to have been spared ...
