Russian President Medvedev urges ratification of new START treaty

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Monday urged a swift ratification for the U.S.-Russia START treaty, the RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Medvedev called on the Russian Parliament to ratify as quickly as possible the treaty which consists in the new nuclear arms reduction pact with the United States and signed last April in Prague, Czech Republic.

"The Americans have done what they have promised to do. They have ratified the treaty with several amendments," Medvedev said. "Now it is the turn of our parliament. You have all possibility to do the same. I hope that decision will be made."

BP and Russia agree to major arctic projects

BP and Russia on Friday agreed on major arctic projects as part of a groundbreaking strategic global alliance.


BP and the state-run energy giant Rosneft signed a joint venture to explore and develop three license blocks (EPNZ 1,2,3) on the Russian Arctic continental shelf. The licenses were awarded to Rosneft in 2010.

"This unique agreement underlines our long-term, strategic and deepening links with the world's largest hydrocarbon-producing nation. We are very pleased to be joining Russia's leading oil company to jointly explore some of the most promising parts of the Russian Arctic, one of the world's last remaining unexplored basins," said BP COE Bob Dudley.

Russia orders Tu-154B aircraft be put out of service after deadly explosion

MOSCOW, RUSSIA -- Following Saturday's Tu-154B passenger jet explosion in Siberia, Russia's transportation watchdog Rostransnadzor on Sunday recommended that all passenger jets of the same type be put out of service until the cause is determined.

The accident happened on New Year's Day when the engine of a Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft caught fire at Surgut airport in West Siberia. The fire quickly spread throughout the plane before the entire aircraft exploded, killing three people and injuring 43 others.

Most of the 124 people on board - including passengers and crew - were evacuated safely before the explosion, which completely destroyed the Russia-made plane.

"Rostransnadzor has conducted a rapid assessment of the risks of further operation of this type of aircraft," a statement from the agency said. "In accordance with the analysis, a Rostransnadzor inspector has issued an order in which it is proposed to suspend Tu-154B aircraft of this type until the causes of the aviation incident at Surgut are established. "

Only 14 aircraft of this type are currently in service in Russia, and a spokesman for the aircraft manufacturer said the order to temporarily suspend the use of the aircraft would not affect its business.

Russia has seen several major aviation accidents involving Tupolev Tu-154 aircraft over the past few months. On April 10, 2010, Polish President Lech Kaczynski was among 96 people killed when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft crashed near the city of Smolensk in Russia. He was visiting Smolensk for the 70th anniversary of the massacre of Polish prisoners of war in the village of Katyn.

And on December 4, three people were killed and around 40 others were injured when a Tupolev Tu-154 Dagestan Airlines passenger plane crash-landed at Moscow's Domodedovo airport while making an emergency landing after it had lost all three engines during the flight. Authorities said 160 passengers, including several children, and eight crew members were on board.

Russia and Cuba sign inter-parliamentary cooperation pact

HAVANA, CUBA - Russia and Cuba on Thursday signed an inter-parliamentary cooperation pact in order to improve bilateral relations, the Cuban News Agency (ACN) reported on Friday.

The pact was signed by Ricardo Alarcon de Quesada, president of the National Assembly of the People’s Power (ANPP) and the speaker of the State Duma, Boris Grizlov. The document will help to improve trade and economic ties between the two nations.

"This important agreement opens up new possibilities for broader dialogue and wider cooperation between our lawmakers," Gryzlov said. "Russian and Cuban lawmakers must play a more active role in boosting and modernizing trade and economic ties between the two countries."

On the other hand, Alarcon expressed his satisfaction with the agreement and remarked that between Cuba and Russia has existed a long standing relationship based on mutual support and friendship. The ANPP president said that such relation would strengthen with this cooperation pact.

Russia has supported Cuba against the economic, financial and trade blockade imposed by the U.S. In addition, the European country has collaborated in the development of the Caribbean island nation since its revolution, said Alarcon.

Russian opposition leader Eduard Limonov detained ahead of protest rally

MOSCOW, RUSSIA - Russian opposition leader Eduard Limonov on Friday was arrested by police forces ahead of a protest rally on Moscow, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Limonov was arrested while he was preparing to join an opposition rally at the Triumfalnaya Square. The opposition leader of The Other Russia was taken to a local police station for a prophylactic discussion.

At about 6:00 p.m. local time, two rallies are expected to take place at Moscow’s Triumfalnaya Square. However, one rally is sanctioned by authorities while the other is not. The one held by rights advocates and led by human rights leader Lyudmila Alekseyeva is sanctioned and the one led by Limonov is unsanctioned.

Two Russian space officials sacked over satellite loss

Two Russian senior space industry officials on Wednesday were sacked over the loss of three Glonass satellites on December 5, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev dismissed Energia space corporation chief rocket and space systems designer Vyacheslav Filin and Roscosmos deputy head Viktor Remishevshy. Medvedev also reprimanded Anatoly Perminov, head of the Russian space agency (Roscosmos).

The sanctions were imposed after a report prepared by a state investigation commission over the December 5 incident. A Proton-M carrier rocket went off course and crashed in the Pacific Ocean and thus the three satellites were lost.

The Proton-M was equipped with a DM-3 booster which was designed and manufactured by Energia space corporation. The state commission determined that Energia miscalculated the amount of fuel needed for the DM-3 booster.

As a result, the amount of oxidant exceeded the norm by 1.5 tons and this excessive weight caused that the carrier rocket was unable to put the Glonass satellites into the calculated orbit. The report also indicated that Energia’s experts did not follow the necessary pre-launch safety procedures and failed to notice the miscalculation.

The three Glonass satellites were supposed to conclude the formation of Russia’s navigation system. Rosocosmos switched on two reserve Glonass-M satellites to compensate for the ones that were lost. Russia expects to put in orbit the another three satellites by April 2011 in order to complete its system.

The Glonass navigation system project consists in 24 satellites that will operate in a similar manner to the U.S. Global Positioning System.

Twelve die when military plane crashes in central Russia

Twelve people were killed on late Tuesday evening when a large Russian Air Force aircraft crashed in central Russia, officials and local media reported.

The Antonov An-22 Cock transport aircraft deployed by the Russian Air Force crashed in the country's Krasny Oktyabr village in the Tula Region. It was on its way to Migalovo airport but radars lost its location at around 9:30 p.m. Moscow time. Around five hours later, the burning remains of the aircraft were discovered near the village.

As rescuers continue to search for evidence that will help reveal the cause of the incident, the Russian Defense Ministry earlier said that a possible equipment failure could have caused the accident. Many military transport aircraft entered service 40 or 50 years ago, and are not considered to be within modern safety aviation regulations.

The black box of the aircraft has since been found, although a recovery operation is ongoing to recover all the remains of the crew members. There were no known casualties on the ground.

Russia has seen several major aviation accidents this year. On March 22, eight people were injured when a large passenger plane crashed on approach to Domodedovo airport after a flight from Egypt. Only crew members were on board the TU-204 Aviastar-TU jet.


And on April 10, Polish President Lech Kaczynski was among 96 people killed when a Tupolev Tu-154M aircraft crashed near the city of Smolensk in Russia. He was visiting Smolensk for the 70th anniversary of the massacre of Polish prisoners of war in the village of Katyn.

Months later, in August, seven people were killed when a Katekavia Airlines passenger plane carrying fifteen people crashed in Russia's Krasnoyarsk region.

And most recently, on December 4, three people were killed and around 40 others were injured when a Tupolev Tu-154 Dagestan Airlines passenger plane crash-landed at Moscow's Domodedovo airport while making an emergency landing after it had lost all three engines during the flight. Authorities said 160 passengers, including several children, and eight crew members were on board.

Catherine Ashton's statement on the second prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovskii and Platon Lebedev

"The High Representative has taken note of today's verdict by the Khamovinicheskii Court in Moscow in the second prosecution of Mikhail Khodorkovskii and Platon Lebedev. The European Union will continue to follow developments very closely, including the forthcoming announcement of the sentence.

As emphasised at the recent Summit that took place on 7 December in Brussels, the EU expects Russia to respect its international commitments in the field of human rights and the rule of law."

source: consilium.europa.eu