Russia

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic will pay a two-day visit to France as of Wednesday, during which he will meet with French Prime Minister Manuel Carlos Valls Galfetti.

BELGRADE - Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic has said that during the forthcoming visit to the Russian Federation he will talk with the Russian president and prime minister about the South Stream gas pipeline, adding Serbia will look after its interests in the project.

“The Serbian president and prime minister have refused to back EU foreign policy, believing that Russia is a vital ally for Serbia, and that turning their back on Moscow is out of the question,” an EU source told BIRN.

“We will continue to pressure Serbia, as it is obligatory for a country aspiring to EU membership to comply with our policy,” the source added.

Camillo Placi has resigned as head coach of Bulgaria’s national men’s volleyball team, following the poor results in the World League.

Bulgaria is in last place of Pool B, with just 1 win in its 10 games so far.

Hungary continues work on South Stream

BELGRADE -- Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that his country will continue works to build the South Stream natural gas pipeline.

Orban, who is visiting Belgrade, noted that "if someone wants to stop the project, they must propose an alternative."

Ukraine's President Poroshenko announced the end of the ceasefire with pro-Russian separatists fighting in the eastern part of the country.

Russia expressed "regret" on Tuesday over Ukraine's decision to restart a military operation against separatists and urged its foreign partners to stop using the ex-Soviet country as a pawn in geopolitical games.
      
Moscow also stressed that peace talks should start as soon as possible, pledging to "fully facilitate" the process.
      

Natural gas is 2.5 percent more expensive for households and 1.5 percent for industrial consumers starting from Tuesday, Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority (ANRE) President Niculae Havrilet announced.

Kazakhstan and Belarus have rejected Russia's proposal that the the three countries jointly adopt a special system to receive Ukrainian goods.

All 14 passengers survived a close brush with death on Monday when their helicopter crashed in the far east of Russia -- a rare happy ending for a country prone to aviation disasters.
      
The Mi-8 helicopter, which included 11 forest firefighters among its passengers, crashed near the village of Chekunda in the Khabarovsk region, the Federal Forestry Agency said.