Russia & CIS

Iranian entrepreneurs and business owners gathered in Berlin Thursday for a three-day startup conference to explore opportunities in Iran’s hi-tech sector.

Armenian armed forces violated ceasefire with 72 times on various parts of the frontline within a day, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said.

Russia has more interest in other formats.

Azerbaijani Minister of Education Mikayil Jabbarov has met Polish Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy Janusz Piechocinski to discuss prospects for cooperation in the field of education, AzerTag reports.

Among the countries participating in the upcoming Baku 2015- the first ever European Games, delegation and journalists from Spain, Britain, Israel and Sweden arrived in Azerbaijan, APA reports.

Turkish Minister Taner Yıldız said it is not possible for Turkey to cancel the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant as the project has been made upon an intergovernmental agreement between Turkey and Russia, in contrary to the opposition parties’ claims.

The memorial library to honor the legacy of the US professor of Russian history and culture Richard Stites has opened in St. Petersburg, Russia.

Russia's Federation Council Speaker has been invited to attend the Fourth World Conference of Speakers of Parliament in New York.

Such statement was made by Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov. He also stressed that the implementation of the Minsk agreement is a key priority to resolve the Ukrainian crisis.

The absence of Russia at the G7 summit, which is set to start on Sunday in Germany, "is a loss,” German Chancellor Angela Merkel said.

The course of the Russian government to increase domestic production of goods and services is expected to be a powerful incentive for the country's new industrial revolution. Swiss and German companies are willing to supply Russia with necessary machinery despite the fact that the latter have ‘political’ difficulties with German authorities.

A Sukhoi Su-34 fighter-bomber skipped off a runway and turned over at an airfield in central Russia on Thursday, a military source told RIA Novosti.

US military and intelligence officials have expressed alarm at the capabilities of Russia’s PAK-FA fighter jet, which some say is even superior to its US counterparts.

An unarmed MiG-29 (Fulcrum) jet fighter has crashed near the southern Russian city of Astrakhan during training exercises, the Russian Defense Ministry said Thursday.

Russian army engineers from Nizhny Novgorod have completed the construction of a major water pipeline to Crimea and are returning back home, the head of the Western Ministry District’s press service said on Thursday.

Russian Presidential Aide Vladimir Kozhin says that Russia’s foreign partners, including China and India, have expressed interest in purchasing new military equipment presented at the May 9 Victory Day parade in Moscow.

The Head of the foreign affairs committee of the lower house of Russia's parliament has pointed to an interdependence between shelling in Donbass and the EU’s anti-Russia sanctions prolongation.

The father of Russian youth powerlifting champion Maryana Naumova says an American sports nutrition company refused to renew his daughter’s contract because of trips the athlete took to Donbass. To boot, he says, Maryana is now listed on Kiev’s “list of terrorists.”

Two more fast-attack missile ships of the Russian Molniya class built in Vietnam were handed over to the Vietnam People’s Navy (VPN) during a ceremony in Ho Chi Minh City.

FIFA President Joseph Blatter’s decision to resign does not increase the risk of the 2018 World Cup in Russia being canceled, Valentina Matviyenko, speaker of the Russian parliament’s upper house, the Federation Council, said Wednesday.