Vladimir Putin

Russia is not a threat to the West, President Vladimir Putin insisted in an interview published on June 6, saying he was still committed to a Ukraine peace deal after a fresh flare-up in the country's east.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras have discussed over the phone the planned construction of a pipeline that will carry Russian natural gas to Turkey and Greece.

President Vladimir Putin and Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras discussed plans on Friday for a pipeline to carry Russian gas to Europe via Turkey and agreed to meet in Russia in two weeks, the Kremlin said.

It said the two leaders, who spoke by telephone, would meet at an annual business conference taking place in Russia's second city of St Petersburg on June 18-20.

Russia's recent behaviour is more aggressive but does not pose an immediate threat to NATO, the alliance's chief Jens Stoltenberg said on June 4.

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.

European parliament head Martin Schulz on June 2 said he was limiting access to the institution to the Russian ambassador to the EU and one other diplomat in retaliation for a travel ban imposed by Moscow on 89 European citizens -- many of them Kremlin critics.

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.

89 EU politicians were surprised to discover that they were on a confidential Russian travel blacklist on Thursday. The people on the list were parliamentarians who have been outspoken critics of Russian President Vladimir Putin and the war in the Ukraine.

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.