Moscow City Court/AP
Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny stands in the cage during a hearing to a motion from the Russian prison service. Navalny was arrested January 17 upon returning from his five-month convalescence in Germany from the attack, which he has blamed on the Kremlin. Russian authorities deny any involvement. Despite tests by several European labs, Russian authorities said they have no proof he was poisoned. As the order was read, Navalny smiled and pointed to his wife Yulia in the courtroom and traced the outline of a heart on the glass cage where he was being held. “Everything will be fine,” he told her as guards led him away.
Swedish foreign minister hails as âconstructive and frankâ talks with Sergey Lavrov
In particular, the talks focused on the problem of protection of the freedom of speech that representatives of the Russian-language media face abroad
MOSCOW, February 2. /TASS/. Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde praised as ‘constructive’ her Tuesday’s talks with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov. Constructive and frank talks today with my Russian colleague Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ann Linde blogged on her Twitter page. Appreciate FM Lavrov’s hospitality, said Linde, who is also OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. Focus on our common challenges as members of the OSCE, she specified.
On Tuesday, Lavrov met with his Swedish counterpart who had arrived in Moscow in the capacity of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. The agenda included an exchange of opinions on the settlement of crises in Ukraine, Nagorno-Karabakh and Transnistria. The diplomats expressed hope that they would mana
Russia hints it may return to treaty on surveillance flights over military facilities
Print article MOSCOW Russia may consider returning to an international pact allowing surveillance flights over military facilities if the United States reverses its exit, the top Russian diplomat said Tuesday. Moscow announced last month that it would leave the Open Skies Treaty following the U.S. departure from the pact last year, adding that Russian proposals to keep the treaty alive after the U.S. withdrawal have been given the cold shoulder by Washington’s allies. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said after Tuesday’s talks in Moscow with Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde, the current chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, that Moscow could still mull the return.
“I have deeply offended him simply by surviving the assassination attempt that he ordered,” he said.
“The aim of that hearing is to scare a great number of people,” Navalny said. “You can t jail the entire country.
Russia’s penitentiary service alleges that Navalny violated the probation conditions of his suspended sentence from a 2014 money laundering conviction that he has rejected as politically motivated. It asked the Simonovsky District Court to turn his 3 1/2-year suspended sentence into one that he must serve in prison, although he has spent some of that sentence under house arrest.
Navalny emphasized that the European Court of Human Rights has ruled that his 2014 conviction was unlawful and Russia paid him compensation in line with the ruling.
Russia hints it may return to Open Skies Treaty if US does February 2 In this file photo taken June 10, 2004, a Russian Federation Tupolev Tu-154 Open Skies Treaty reconnaissance aircraft sits on the runway at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska, prior to its departure for two overflights of central Alaska. (Mark Farmer/AP) MOSCOW Russia may consider returning to an international pact allowing surveillance flights over military facilities if the United States reverses its exit, the top Russian diplomat said Tuesday. Moscow announced last month that it would leave the Open Skies Treaty following the U.S. departure from the pact last year, adding that Russian proposals to keep the treaty alive after the U.S. withdrawal have been given the cold shoulder by Washington’s allies.