Russia

The European Parliament adopted on Wednesday a non-legislative resolution, which deems that Russia is no longer a strategic partner of the EU.

The resolution also called on the EU to critically re-assess its relations with Russia and devise a soft-power plan to counter Moscow's aggressive and divisive policies.

"What Sofia appears to finally understand is that dependence on Russia is not a viable development model and Russia's aggression in Ukraine is a direct security threat," Dariusz Kalan writes in the Foreign Affairs magazine. 

Not just the governing conservative elite, but also the Bulgarians seem to be sharing this belief, the author says in the article, which you can read here.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko warned June 4 of the "colossal threat" of a resumption of major clashes in eastern Ukraine where at least 24 people have died in renewed fighting between government forces and pro-Russian rebels.

Russian Central Bank chief Elvira Nabiullina said on June 4 it was too early to say the crisis is over in Russia after the economy was hit by Western sanctions and falling oil prices.   

?It?s premature to say that all the features of the crisis are over,? Nabiullina said at a bank congress in Russia?s second city of Saint Petersburg.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday dismissed the ?absurdity? of EU complaints over a travel ban imposed by Moscow on 89 Europeans over the Ukraine crisis.

Romanian Foreign Ministry, MAE, on Saturday said it will ask for official explanations from Russia's entry ban against the five Romanians, including politicians, a businessman and a military leader.

President Vladimir Putin on May 28 declared all deaths of Russian soldiers during special operations to be classified as a state secret, a move that comes as Moscow stands accused of sending soldiers to fight in eastern Ukraine. 

Russia's provocative rhetoric and its dramatic expansion of flights by nuclear bombers are deeply troubling and dangerous, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said May 27.

President Vladimir Putin signed a bill into law May 23 giving prosecutors the power to declare foreign and international organizations "undesirable" in Russia and shut them down.

A travel warning for Russians travelling abroad was given by the Russian Foreign Ministry, stressing that they are in danger by US authorities.

The announcement states that US police forces target Russian citizens. It also blamed Washington DC for kidnapping Russian citizens.