Group items tagged

Russia awaits for Ukraine's President Pyotr Poroshenko to stop the military operation in the country's east and to facilitate a peaceful settlement of the conflict, Russian Ambassador to Ukraine Mikhail Zurabov said after Poroshenko's inauguration on Saturday.

The release from prison of Mikhail Khodorkovsky and two members of the feminist punk group Pussy Riot drew worldwide attention to complaints about political prisoners in Russia. Although none of the three were convicted of political crimes, the taint of political vengeance hung strongly on all their cases.

US Secretary of State John Kerry welcomed the Friday release of Russia's most famous prisoner and Kremlin critic Mikhail Khodorkovsky, while expressing concerns over the country's selective prosecution.

Soviet Union's first President Mikhail Gorbachev is confident the West in 1980-1990s in fact lied to Russia when its leaders promised that NATO would not move in the eastern direction.