Russia
Syrian Alawites find refuge in Russia’s Perm
Russian officials have confirmed a steady flow of Syrian refugees that have begun settling in the Perm region of the country as sectarian attacks continue to target religious minorities, including Alawites.
Kremlin sets the conditions for foreign companies to return to Russian market
Thanks to the tangible thaw in US-Russian relations, Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the government to work out the conditions for firms to return. The list is ready, The Bell reported on April 10.
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Russia posts RUB500bn budget surplus in March but hard landing risks increase
Russia posted a RUB500bn ($5.4bn) federal budget surplus in March 2025 amid falling oil revenues, according to preliminary data from the Ministry of Finance.
Russia to launch online marriage register to help women catch cheaters
Conservative lawmakers and Orthodox activists in Russia are advocating the creation of a national registry of married citizens, to be made accessible through the government’s digital platform Gosuslugi.
Gazprom abandons Bolivia's Azero project after 16 years of unfulfilled promises
Gazprom, Russia's state-owned gas giant, has withdrawn from the Azero gas exploration project in Bolivia, ending a 16-year energy venture once heralded as a cornerstone of Moscow's expanding influence in Latin America.
TULGAN: Of Cheese and Chelnoki, the return of shuttle trading
The Trump Administration’s clumsy introduction of punitive tariffs recalls the days when similarly capricious sanctions wreaked havoc over Moscow food supplies that ended up in a shuttle trade in cheese.
Trump’s and Putin’s men to talk Ukraine in Istanbul on April 10
The US and Russian delegations will on April 10 hold their next meeting in Istanbul, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, told reporters on April 8. The meeting will be launched at 10h Istanbul time in Russia’s consulate.
Lukashenko gifts Putin with foiled 580kg high explosives terrorist attack
Belarusian authorities intercepted a van carrying 580kg of the high explosive pentaerythritol tetranitrate (PETN), believed to be of US origin, at the Belarus-Poland border, the State Customs Committee of Belarus reported on April 2.
COMMENT: Trump’s secondary sanctions on Russian oil are a lose-lose proposition – Carnegie
“Just as certain classes of medication are sometimes in vogue and prescribed to help with all kinds of ailments, it seems that US President Donald Trump and his team have stumbled upon a magical remedy for all the world’s problems: tariffs.”
Russia’s Alrosa cuts record-breaking 200 carat diamond
Russian diamond producer Alrosa showcased the largest diamond ever cut in the country’s history – a 100-carat vivid yellow gem named “New Sun” – on April 4.
Russia to capitalise on Africa’s growing energy demand
Russia has been intensifying its efforts to strengthen energy partnerships with African countries, indicating a broader strategy to enhance its geopolitical influence across the continent.
Trump is an amateur, and his maths mistakes mean his tariffs four times too high
President Trump’s Liberation Day tariff formula makes no economic sense and includes some basic mathematical errors that means the tariff rates are four times higher than they should be, according to several economic experts.
BALKAN BLOG: Putin’s ally pushes Bosnia to the verge of war
The international community will have to step up to prevent new clashes in Bosnia.
HALLIGAN: Trump's tariffs are either madness or genius – it could go either way
Donald Trump has referred to tariffs as “the most beautiful word in the dictionary”. And now the US President has unleashed the most aggressive surge in American trade protectionism in almost a century.
Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs will accelerate BRICS bloc trade cooperation
BRICS avowedly seeks to challenge Western-dominated institutions of global economic governance, as well as to displace the US dollar from its entrenched role in the world economy. Its job just got easier thanks to Trump.
Kremlin envoy Dmitriev says “significant progress” made in talks during Washington trip
Russia and the US have made significant progress in discussing a settlement of the conflict in Ukraine, Russian Direct Investment Fund CEO and Special Envoy Kirill Dmitriev said during a visit to Washington on April 3.
Arctic warming accelerates to seven times the global average, catastrophic damage “locked in”
The Arctic experienced record high temperatures this winter as warming accelerated again and is now running seven times faster in the North Barents Sea than the rest of the world, researchers have found. Catastrophic damage is now "locked in."
Russian women are marrying soldiers with the aim of claiming a HUGE fortune if they die at war
A viral podcast clip has ignited a political and social firestorm in Russia after a real estate agent openly claimed that Russian women are securing financial stability by marrying men deployed to Ukraine.
Russia, Cuba, Belarus and North Korea exempted from tariffs as already sanctioned
US President Donald Trump dropped a tariffs bomb on the whole world on “Liberation Day” by imposing sanctions on every country the US trades with – with a very few notable exceptions: Russia, Cuba, Belarus and North Korea.
Russia’s real wages up 9 6.5% in January as growth slows
Real wages grew by a handsome 6.5% y/y in January, according to preliminary Rosstat data just as the economy starts to cool, but it also brings down inflation.