Moscow

The United Nations Security Council has failed to pass a resolution which would have called the 1995 massacre in Srebrenica as "genocide".

Russia, a permanent UNSC member, has blocked the resolution which would have coincided with the 20th anniversary since as many as 8000 men and boys were killed by Bosnian Serb troops in 1995.

Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov hopes sanctions on Russia will be lifted soon, TASS reports him as saying in an exclusive interview.

Borisov asserted that his country was doing "everything" to restore normal relations with Russia.

He also made clear that historically cordial and friendly ties were not dependent on political ones.

The Black Sea resorts of Varna, in Bulgaria, and Sochi, in Russia are the best budget flight destinations for Russian tourists who want to spend summer holidays with their children, TASS reported on Wednesday.

A dismissed Ukrainian official has accused former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili of defending the interests of a Turkish firm, Do?an News Agency reported.

Bulgaria will have to count on two prospective gas pipeline projects to secure to fulfill its recent dream and become a key player on the energy map, Austrian daily Wirtschaftsblatt says in an article.

The text is mostly focused on the now ditched South Stream pipeline and the hopes Bulgaria is pinning on alternative projects that are being put forward.

Kiev said July 7 that Russia had cut off electricity to Ukraine's rebel-run regions in what appears to be another sign that Moscow is losing interest in plans to splinter its neighbor.

Two of Russia?s most iconic historical figures came to blows close to Moscow?s Red Square when a Stalin double allegedly attacked a Lenin lookalike over a work dispute, police said on July 7. 

Gazprom has told pipeline makers to suspend deliveries of pipes for expanding Russia?s network to be connected to the proposed Turkish Stream project, an industry source said on July 6.

The delay is another snag in Moscow?s plans to build a gas pipeline via the Black Sea to Turkey, and on to south Europe in order to bypass Ukraine.

Defence Minister Nikolay Nenchev said that Bulgaria is working on finalising the contract with Poland on the maintenance of the MiG-29 fighter jets.

The contract is expected to be signed by the end of the month, Nenchev said in an interview for Reuters.

Nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India will start the process of joining a security bloc led by China and Russia at a summit in Russia later this week, a senior Chinese diplomat said on July 6, the first time the grouping has expanded since it was set up in 2001.