Russia has agreed to ease the terms under which it supplies gas to Ukraine, in a deal which Moscow says should prevent disruption in coming months. The deal was announced after talks between Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Yulia Tymoshenko.
Posts Tagged ‘Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’
Russian pipeline’s approval deals blow to EU
November 16th, 2009 |
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Slovenia’s agreement to sign on to the South Stream pipeline project has dashed hopes by the European Union to reduce dependency on Russian gas. As the Slovenian and Russian energy ministers signed an agreement for the massive South Stream gas pipeline Saturday, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin looked on in satisfaction.
Putin to discuss Europe’s energy security in Austria
November 11th, 2009 |
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will meet with Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann on Wednesday to discuss Russian gas supplies to Europe. The issue was raised at Faymann’s meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Tuesday. Russia supplies up to 90% of natural gas consumed in Austria.
Russia and Iran Now OFFICIALLY Talking of Dumping Dollar for International Trade
October 18th, 2009 |
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After the Independent reported that Middle Eastern oil producers, plus China, Japan and France have all agreed to start trading oil using a basket of currencies – instead of the dollar – starting in 9 years, spokesmen for those governments denied it.Th…
China and Russia sign missile notification pact
October 14th, 2009 |
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China and Russia signed a pact to notify each other of ballistic missile launch plans during Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin’s visit this week to Beijing.
The accord, although overshadowed by promises of 3.5 billion dollar in deals and oil and gas supply accords, is a small step towards establishing further trust between the two [...]
United Russia sweeps Moscow, regional elections
October 12th, 2009 |
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With almost 90% of votes counted in the elections to the Moscow City Duma, just two parties look set to pass the 7% threshold. The Moscow City Election Committee reported that the United Russia party of Prime Minister Vladimir Putin had 66.10%, with the Communist Party a distant second of 13.28%, enough for three seats in the 35-member chamber
Gorbachev criticizes Putin’s hints at return to presidency
September 21st, 2009 |
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Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has criticized Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin for his recent suggestion of a return to the presidency in 2012. In an interview with the BBC released on Sunday, Gorbachev was highly complimentary over Putin’s achievements in power, but said the country’s future must be decided by the people.
Patil meets Putin to discuss trade ties, terrorism
September 5th, 2009 |
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President Pratibha Devisingh Patil’s meeting with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Friday focused on the issue of terrorism and strengthening of economic relations between the two countries.
Patil, who is on a five-day visit to the country, discussed bilateral issues with Putin.
The two leaders were in complete agreement that the world community has [...]
Putin to Bulgaria: Decide on energy projects
September 2nd, 2009 |
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Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has called on Bulgaria to make up its mind as soon as possible on joint energy projects with Russia. Russia and Bulgaria have been discussing the construction of the South Stream gas pipeline and the Burgas-Alexandroupolis oil pipeline.
President Patil to leave for Russia today
September 2nd, 2009 |
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President Pratibha Patil will leave on a weeklong visit to Russia and Tajikistan from today.
She will be accompanied by Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Murli Deora and Minister of State for Textiles, Panabaka Lakshmi.
Strengthening bilateral ties with these countries will be top of the agenda of the visit.
Patil will first go to Moscow and [...]
Poland angry at Soviet war role
September 1st, 2009 |
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Polish President Lech Kaczynski has voiced his anger at the Soviet role in World War II at commemorations marking the beginning of the global conflict.
In front of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and other world leaders, Mr Kaczynski said the 1939 Nazi-Soviet non-aggression pact had divided Europe.
At an earlier event in the port city of Gdansk, he had described Russia’s actions as a "stab in the back".
Mr Putin said all pacts with the Nazis were "morally unacceptable".
The day of ceremonies began at the exact time and location where, on 1 September 1939, a German battleship fired at a Polish fort on Westerplatte peninsula – the first shots of World War II.
Speaking at the dawn ceremony, Mr Kaczynski, referring to the occupation of eastern Poland by Soviet forces a fortnight later, said: "On 17 September… Poland received a stab in the back… This blow came from Bolshevik Russia."
Watching the start of World War II Pact that set the scene for war UK service to mark evacuations
Later, Mr Kaczynski used the occasion of the wreath-laying ceremony to again criticise Moscow for its war, which focused on what he called the tragic occupation Poland endured under the Nazis following its military defeat.
Relations between Poland and Russia are currently thorny, partly because of differing historical interpretations of events at the start of the war.
Mr Kaczynski said the Soviet-German pact, signed a week before the first shots were fired, had divided Europe into areas of influence and had preceded a conflict which caused the deaths of 50 million people.
He also recalled the Katyn massacre of 1940, in which 20,000 Polish officers were killed by Soviet secret services, saying it was an act of chauvinism and in revenge for Polish independence.
For 50 years Moscow blamed the Nazis and only admitted responsibility in 1990, but Russian courts have ruled it cannot be considered a war crime.
Improving relations
Mr Putin, in his speech after Mr Kaczynski, said all pacts between European states and Nazi Germany were "morally unacceptable," including the 1939 Nazi-Soviet accord.
"All attempts to appease the Nazis between 1934 and 1939 through various agreements and pacts were morally unacceptable and politically senseless, harmful and dangerous," Mr Putin said.
"We must admit these mistakes. Our country has done this."
He also said that improved relations between Germany and Russia since the war should be an example for improving Russian-Polish relations.
"We sincerely want Russian-Polish relations to get rid of the accumulated legacy of the past… and to develop in the spirit of good-neighbourliness and co-operation – that is to say, to be worthy of two great European peoples," Mr Putin said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke of the "immeasurable suffering" which began with Germany’s invasion of Poland.
"No country suffered from German occupation as much as Poland.
"Here at the Westerplatte, as German chancellor, I commemorate all the Poles who suffered unspeakably from the crimes of the German occupying forces."
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This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Newspaper group sues Berlusconi
July 22nd, 2009 |
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The publisher of Italy’s second largest-selling newspaper is suing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Mr Berlusconi described La Repubblica as "subversive", prompting L’Espresso media group to sue for defamation.
L’Espresso also publishes a magazine of the same name, and both publications have led recent investigations into Mr Berlusconi’s personal life.
The group also said the PM had discouraged businesses from buying advertising space in its publications.
According to a complaint lodged with a Milan court, the group’s lawyers have also accused Mr Berlusconi of abuse of office and of flouting market rules.
Mr Berlusconi’s own media empire spans television, newspapers, advertising and film.
He has not yet responded to the allegations.
‘No saint’
Earlier this week, the publications released transcripts and audio from what they said was a night Mr Berlusconi, 72, spent with an escort.
"I am not a saint, you’ve all understood that. I hope those at La Repubblica also understand it"
Silvio Berlusconi
Italian Prime Minister
The prime minister’s lawyer had warned the media against publishing details of the tapes, which he said were "totally fictitious and the product of the imagination".
On Wednesday, in his first public remarks since the audio and transcripts were published, Mr Berlusconi sought to brush off the scandal, which does not appear to have dented his popularity in Italy.
"I am not a saint, you’ve all understood that," he said.
"I hope those at La Repubblica also understand it."
Patrizia D’Addario told L’Espresso she had made the tapes during a visit to Mr Berlusconi’s official Rome residence.
In one conversation, a man can be heard telling a woman to wait for him in "Putin’s" bed after having a shower.
Mr Berlusconi – whose personal life has been under scrutiny since his wife filed for divorce in May – has not denied Ms D’Addario attended a party at his home, but insists he did not pay for sex.
Investigation
The recordings of conversations purportedly between the prime minister and Ms D’Addario were published several weeks after the former model gave them to magistrates investigating Giampaolo Tarantini, a businessman from the southern Italian city of Bari, who is suspected of corruption and abetting prostitution.
In one exchange, a male voice said to be Mr Berlusconi’s can be heard saying: "I’m going to have a shower too… So wait for me in the big bed if you finish first."
A woman’s voice, purportedly that of Ms D’Addario, asks: "Which big bed… Putin’s", reportedly a reference to a four-poster bed which Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used during a recent official visit.
Ms D’Addario, 42, says she made recordings of her encounter with Mr Berlusconi "so that nobody could deny I had been there".
Last month, she said she had been paid more than 1,000 euros (£862; $1,420) to attend a party at the Palazzo Grazioli in October, in the company of other women.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Newspaper group sues Berlusconi
July 22nd, 2009 |
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The publisher of Italy’s second largest-selling newspaper is suing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.
Mr Berlusconi described La Repubblica as "subversive", prompting L’Espresso media group to sue for defamation.
L’Espresso also publishes a magazine of the same name, and both publications have led recent investigations into Mr Berlusconi’s personal life.
The group also said the PM had discouraged businesses from buying advertising space in its publications.
According to a complaint lodged with a Milan court, the group’s lawyers have also accused Mr Berlusconi of abuse of office and of flouting market rules.
Mr Berlusconi’s own media empire spans television, newspapers, advertising and film.
He has not yet responded to the allegations.
‘No saint’
Earlier this week, the publications released transcripts and audio from what they said was a night Mr Berlusconi, 72, spent with an escort.
"I am not a saint, you’ve all understood that. I hope those at La Repubblica also understand it"
Silvio Berlusconi
Italian Prime Minister
The prime minister’s lawyer had warned the media against publishing details of the tapes, which he said were "totally fictitious and the product of the imagination".
On Wednesday, in his first public remarks since the audio and transcripts were published, Mr Berlusconi sought to brush off the scandal, which does not appear to have dented his popularity in Italy.
"I am not a saint, you’ve all understood that," he said.
"I hope those at La Repubblica also understand it."
Patrizia D’Addario told L’Espresso she had made the tapes during a visit to Mr Berlusconi’s official Rome residence.
In one conversation, a man can be heard telling a woman to wait for him in "Putin’s" bed after having a shower.
Mr Berlusconi – whose personal life has been under scrutiny since his wife filed for divorce in May – has not denied Ms D’Addario attended a party at his home, but insists he did not pay for sex.
Investigation
The recordings of conversations purportedly between the prime minister and Ms D’Addario were published several weeks after the former model gave them to magistrates investigating Giampaolo Tarantini, a businessman from the southern Italian city of Bari, who is suspected of corruption and abetting prostitution.
In one exchange, a male voice said to be Mr Berlusconi’s can be heard saying: "I’m going to have a shower too… So wait for me in the big bed if you finish first."
A woman’s voice, purportedly that of Ms D’Addario, asks: "Which big bed… Putin’s", reportedly a reference to a four-poster bed which Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used during a recent official visit.
Ms D’Addario, 42, says she made recordings of her encounter with Mr Berlusconi "so that nobody could deny I had been there".
Last month, she said she had been paid more than 1,000 euros (£862; $1,420) to attend a party at the Palazzo Grazioli in October, in the company of other women.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
Paper releases Berlusconi ‘tapes’
July 20th, 2009 |
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An Italian newspaper has released audio recordings and transcripts of what it says was a night Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi spent with an escort.
Patrizia D’Addario told L’Espresso she had made the tapes during a visit to Mr Berlusconi’s official Rome residence.
In one conversation, a man can be heard telling a woman to wait for him in "Putin’s" bed after having a shower.
Mr Berlusconi has not denied Ms D’Addario attended a party at his home, but insists he did not pay for sex.
A spokesman for the 72-year-old’s political grouping, People of Freedom, said L’Espresso was merely trying to revive an "already dead" scandal.
Mr Berlusconi’s personal life has been under scrutiny since his wife filed for divorce in May, saying she could "not remain with a man who consorts with minors" after he attended the 18th birthday party of an aspiring model, Noemi Letizia.
The prime minister initially said he had only gone to Ms Letizia’s party because she was the daughter of a family friend, but photographs later emerged of them together at social events last year, when she was 17. He also confirmed she had stayed at his villa in Sardinia.
He faced further scandal when photos were published of topless women and a naked man at his villa on Sardinia, and also of a celebrity using the prime minister’s official jet to fly to the island.
Investigation
The recordings of conversations purportedly between the prime minister and Ms D’Addario were published several weeks after the former model gave them to magistrates investigating Giampaolo Tarantini, a businessman from the southern Italian city of Bari, who is suspected of corruption and abetting prostitution.
In one exchange, a male voice said to be Mr Berlusconi’s can be heard saying: "I’m going to have a shower too… So wait for me in the big bed if you finish first."
A woman’s voice, purportedly that of Ms D’Addario, asks: "Which big bed… Putin’s", reportedly a reference to a four-poster bed which Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin used during a recent official visit.
"Putin’s," the man says, to which the woman replies: "Oh, how sweet… the one with the curtains."
Ms D’Addario, 42, says she made recordings of her encounter with Mr Berlusconi "so that nobody could deny I had been there".
Last month, she said she had been paid more than 1,000 euros (£862; $1,420) to attend a party at the Palazzo Grazioli in October, in the company of other women.
She alleged that she had been asked to return the following month and had spent the night with the prime minister, but was not paid.
Mr Berlusconi responded to the allegations by insisting he had never paid for sex.
"I never understood where the satisfaction is when you’re missing the pleasure of conquest," he told the gossip magazine, Chi.
And he attacked Ms D’Addario, saying she had been "extremely well paid" by someone to produce false accusations against him.</p
This article is from the BBC News website. © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.