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Vin Diesel has nominated Russian President Vladimir Putin to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.
The star also put forward Angelina Jolie and Michelle Obama.
Although Vladimir Putin has not given an outright no, his spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the President probably wasn’t aware of the challenge – and apparently has more important things to be thinking about.
Vin Diesel has nominated Russian President Vladimir Putin to do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge (photo YouTube)
“We’ve had other things on our agenda,” Dmitry Peskov told Russian newspaper Lenta.ru.
Other high-profile names to have taken part in the campaign, which raises money for ALS Association, the US charity that helps sufferers of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, include Oprah Winfrey, Justin Bieber, Britney Spears, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Lady Gaga and Charlie Sheen.
President Barack Obama has already declined his nomination and has made a donation to the ALS Association instead.
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Steven Seagal has played a concert in Crimea on a stage adorned with the flag of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine.
The actor and his blues band took to the stage at a bikers’ show in the city of Sevastopol, where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is based.
Fans waved Russian flags as Steven Seagal sang and played his guitar.
The US and EU have imposed sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea in March.
Steven Seagal has played a concert in Crimea on a stage adorned with the flag of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine
Russia is also alleged to have provided weapons and support to the rebels in eastern Ukraine.
Steven Seagal said he had travelled to Crimea because music unites people, Russia’s RIA-Novosti news agency reported.
The black, blue and red flag of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) hung in the corner of the stage.
Steven Seagal’s pro-Russian views saw him dropped from the line-up of an Estonian blues festival earlier this summer.
The bikers’ show in Sevastopol was organized by a motorcycle group of Russian nationalists known as the Night Wolves.
RIA Novosti reported Steven Seagal was handed a shirt with Vladimir Putin’s face on it, which he held aloft as he thanked the crowd.
Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters last year the Russian president and Steven Seagal had been friends “for a long time” and regularly meet.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has issued a new decree banning or curbing agricultural imports from countries imposing sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine.
In the decree, Vladimir Putin ordered the measures, which also apply to food imports, to be introduced for one year.
Government departments were instructed to come up with a list of products subject to the order.
Russia has imposed import bans on other states in the past, but normally on grounds of public health.
Vladimir Putin has issued a new decree banning or curbing agricultural imports from countries imposing sanctions on Russia over the crisis in Ukraine
Wednesday’s decree did not specify which countries would be affected by the new measures but the EU and US recently tightened sanctions on Russia, with Brussels extending them from individuals to sectors of the economy.
Russia buys fruit and vegetables from the EU worth an annual 2 billion euros ($2.7 billion), and food and agricultural products from the US worth about 1 billion euros.
Last week Russia banned most agricultural imports from Poland on grounds of public health in what was seen as a thinly veiled retaliation for Poland’s advocacy of tough action over Ukraine.
Excerpt from Vladimir Putin’s decree:
“With the aim of protecting the national interests of the Russian Federation and in accordance with the Federal Laws of December 30, 2006, No 281-FZ <<On special economic measures>> and of December 28, 2010, No 390-FZ <<On security>>, I decree that: <<State power bodies of the Russian Federation, federal state bodies, local government bodies, legal entities set up in accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, and organizations and individuals that come under the jurisdiction of the Russian Federation shall proceed in their actions from the fact that, for one year from the date when this decree comes into force, foreign economic transactions involving the importation into the territory of the Russian Federation of certain types of agricultural produce, raw materials and food of which the country of origin is a state which has taken a decision to impose economic sanctions against Russian legal entities and/or individuals, or joined such a decision, are banned or restricted…>>”
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The US government accuses Russia of violating the 1987 arms control treaty by testing a nuclear cruise missile.
Russia tested a ground-launched cruise missile, breaking the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty signed in 1987 during the Cold War, the US said.
A senior US official did not provide further details on the alleged breach, but described it as “very serious”.
The bilateral agreement banned medium-range missiles with ranges between 300 to 3,400 miles.
The US government accuses Russia of violating the 1987 arms control treaty by testing a nuclear cruise missile (photo Fox News)
The US claims come at a time of heightened tensions between the two sides, with the US criticizing Russia for its alleged involvement in the conflict in Ukraine.
A senior US official, who was not named, said in a statement that the testing of the missile was “a very serious matter which we have attempted to address with Russia for some time now”.
“We encourage Russia to return to compliance with its obligations under the treaty and to eliminate any prohibited items in a verifiable matter,” the official added.
President Barack Obama has written to President Vladimir Putin over the matter, officials say.
This is the first time the US government has made its accusations public, though the issue has simmered for years.
In January, the New York Times reported that US officials believed Russia had began testing ground-launched cruise missiles as early as 2008.
The US State Department had said at the time that the issue was under review.
The 1987 treaty is at the heart of American-Russian arms control efforts, and was signed by then-Presidents Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in the final years of the Cold War.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s daughter, Maria Putina, has fled her Dutch home as fury grows over Malaysia Airlines tragedy.
Maria Putina, 29, lived just 20 miles from the airport where the doomed jet departed from.
News that Maria Putina was living among a nation of people still fuming over Russia’s role in the downing of Flight MH17 was only going to spark more outrage.
Once it became known Maria Putina had a $3.2 million apartment not far from the Dutch airport where the doomed jet left on its final, tragic journey, the angry protests quickly started.
Maria Putina and her Dutch boyfriend, Jorrit Faasen, 34, who lived in a riverside flat in Voorschoten on the outskirts of the Dutch capital, fled amid the mounting fury.
One resident said tonight: “We have not seen her here since the plane went down.
Vladimir Putin’s daughter, Maria Putina, has fled her Dutch home as fury grows over Malaysia Airlines tragedy.
“She moved in last year and it was all kept quiet for a while. But once it became known who she was, there was certainly some disquiet. And now this has happened. She is obviously not responsible for her father’s actions but we don’t want demonstrations around here.”
Many blame President Vladimir Putin for Malaysia Airlines disaster, insisting Kremlin chiefs supplied the missile that blasted the MH17 flight out of the sky at 30,000ft – killing 298 passengers and crew, including 193 Dutch.
Pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists control the region where it crashed. Although they deny being responsible and claim the Ukrainian shot it down in a blame game that last night was showing no sign of ending.
The bodies will be identified in the town of Hilversum, near Amsterdam.
Mayor Pieter Broertjes also spoke of his anger at the presence of Vladimir Putin’s daughter in Holland.
He said: “We could also deport Putin’s daughter, she lives in The Netherlands. Then you’ve got a whole different signal you could give.”
Pieter Broertjes later apologized for the comments and admitted they were “not wise”.
But he added: “They stemmed from a feeling of helplessness that many would recognize.”
Maria Putina’s position in Holland was made more perilous after Ukrainian activists published her address on websites.
Her whereabouts were last night unknown.
Vladimir Putin is reported to have a personal wealth of more than $65 billion, with properties around the world including a $320 million palace on the Black Sea.
Jorrit Faasen is also understood to be wealthy in his own right. He worked as an executive for Russian energy giant Gazprom.
There were reports Maria Putina and Jorrit Faasen could be back in Moscow where they can be better protected by Vladimir Putin.
The only existing pictures of Maria Putina are from when Vladimir Putin first came to power in 1999, when he was pictured with her, her sister Ekaterina, and his ex-wife Lyudmila.
Known as Masha to friends, Maria Putina was born in Petersburg and was named after her dad’s mother.
Maria Putina is thought to have studied biology at St Petersburg State University – where Vladimir Putin attended.
Vladimir Putin is extremely protective of his daughters’ privacy.
Yekaterina Putina, 27, is believed to have married the son of a South Korean admiral, though her life is also shrouded in mystery.
Pieter Broertjes, the mayor of Dutch city of Hilversum, used a radio interview on July 23 to call for Vladimir Putin’s daughter, Maria Putina, to be expelled from Netherlands in the wake of Malaysia Airlines disaster.
Maria Putina, 29, is said to live in Voorschoten with her Dutch boyfriend.
More than half of the 298 people killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in eastern Ukraine last week were Dutch.
Maria Putina is said to live in Voorschoten with her Dutch boyfriend, Jorrit Faassen
Pieter Broertjes later apologized for his remarks via Twitter, saying they were “not wise”, but adding that “they stemmed from a feeling of helplessness that many will recognize”.
The Dutch government has declared July 23 a day of national mourning and marked the bodies’ arrival with a minute’s silence across the country.
Ukrainians living in Holland have also called for a peaceful protest outside Maria Putina’s flat, according to De Telegraaf newspaper. It published a photograph of the apartment complex where Maria Putina is said to live alongside the article on Monday.
Very little is known about the Russian president’s two daughters, Maria and Yekaterina (Katya), who are completely sheltered from media attention and have never been officially photographed as adults.
However, there have been persistent rumors linking Maria Putina with Dutch citizen Jorrit Faassen. Dutch media claimed that Vladimir Putin visited the couple last year, something his spokesman denied.
Jorrit Faassen has held senior roles in the Russian firms Gazprom and Stroytransgaz, a pipeline manufacturer, and hit the headlines when he was reportedly assaulted by the bodyguards of Russian banker Matvei Urin in a road-rage incident in Moscow in 2010.
Matvei Urin was later arrested and jailed for fraud.
President Vladimir Putin has denied reports that Russia made a deal with Cuba to reopen an electronic listening post on the Caribbean island.
The Lourdes base near Havana was used by the Soviets to spy on the US during the Cold War.
Speaking at the BRICS summit in Brazil, Vladimir Putin said Russia could “meet its defense needs without this component”.
Russia’s Kommersant newspaper had earlier reported that Russia and Cuba had agreed to reopen the spy facility.
The Lourdes base near Havana was used by the Soviets to spy on the US during the Cold War (photo Reuters)
Vladimir Putin closed the base in 2001, citing concerns over its cost.
The paper said the deal to make the base operational again had been reached during Vladimir Putin’s visit to Cuba last week.
A Russian security source quoted by Reuters news agency had confirmed the Kommersant report, saying “a framework agreement” had been agreed.
The Lourdes base began operations in 1967 and provided intelligence for Soviet state security bodies. It also handled secret communications for the Soviet navy.
In Soviet times some 3,000 specialists worked there, then in the 1990s Russia reduced the staff by about half. Kommersant said staffing on that level would not be required now, because of improvements in technology.
When Russia shut the base in 2001 the annual cost – the rent paid to Cuba – was $200 million.
Cuba was a Cold War hotspot. The crisis over Soviet missiles in Cuba in 1962 almost escalated into nuclear war.
Vladimir Putin is visiting Argentina as part of his Latin American tour in an apparent bid to seek allies to counter US and Western influence.
The Russian president spent Friday in Cuba – the first stop of his tour – before making an unexpected visit to Nicaragua, the first by a Russian leader.
Vladimir Putin will meet left-wing regional heads of state in Argentina.
Vladimir Putin has been holding bilateral talks with President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner during his visit to Argentina
He goes onto Brazil to attend the football World Cup final on July 13.
Russia will host the next tournament in 2018.
Later Vladimir Putin will attend a summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) emerging economies in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza.
Vladimir Putin has been holding bilateral talks with Argentina’s President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner.
Correspondents say Argentina is desperate for foreign investment as it faces a possible default after investors rejected its debt restructuring.
Vladimir Putin will then have dinner with other South American leaders including the presidents of Venezuela, Bolivia and Uruguay.
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President Vladimir Putin has begun his Latin American tour by visiting Cuba, in an apparent bid to seek allies to counter US and Western influence.
The Russian president’s choice of first stop, Cuba, is seen as an attempt to further boost friendly ties with the one-time Soviet ally.
Russia confirmed cancellation of 90% of Cuba’s debt two days before the visit.
Vladimir Putin will also travel to Argentina and Brazil, where he will attend the football World Cup final on Sunday as leader of the next host nation.
Later he will attend a summit of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, Chinas and South Africa) emerging economies in the Brazilian city of Fortaleza.
Vladimir Putin has begun his Latin American tour by visiting Cuba (photo picture-alliance/dpa)
In an interview on the eve of the trip, Vladimir Putin said Brazil was one of a group of emerging countries who should play a greater role on the world stage.
“This powerful and fast-developing country is destined to play an important role in the emerging polycentric world order,” he said, adding that Russia would back Brazil’s bid for a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.
Analysts say Vladimir Putin is trying to encourage Latin American countries to challenge Western dominance in the world at a time when Russia is isolated by sanctions over Ukraine and relations with the West are at their lowest since the Cold War.
In Cuba, Vladimir Putin is expected to meet President Raul Castro and his predecessor and brother Fidel.
They will be expected to discuss the progress of an agreement signed last year which cancels 90% of Cuba’s $35.2 million Soviet-era debt to Russia and channels the remaining 10% into joint investment projects in the country.
The deal was ratified by the upper house of the Russian parliament on Wednesday.
Relations between Cuba and Russia declined after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 but have improved in recent years.
Russia is involved in oil exploration offshore and began drilling a development well last year.
Vladimir Putin said Russian companies were interested in investing in reinforced plastic products, car parts and heavy equipment for the railway industry.
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Edward Snowden has officially applied for the extension of his stay in Russia after his visa expires.
His lawyer, Anatoly Kucherena, confirmed that paperwork had been submitted to Russia’s Federal Migration Service.
The current document granting him temporary asylum expires on July 31.
Edward Snowden fled the US in May 2013 and has been living under temporary asylum in Russia. Last year, he fed a trove of secret intelligence to news outlets.
“We have gone through the procedure of getting temporary asylum… We have submitted documents for extending his stay in Russia,” Anatoly Kucherena told reporters on Wednesday.
The lawyer did not say for how long Edward Snowden wanted to stay in Russia, or whether he wanted to become a Russian citizen.
Edward Snowden has officially applied for the extension of his stay in Russia after his visa expires
Edward Snowden became stranded in the international airport at Moscow last year while travelling from Hong Kong to Cuba. He was in effect trapped in the airport’s transit zone for several weeks before the Russian government allowed him refugee status for a year.
He went to Russia shortly after leaking details of the National Security Agency’s (NSA) international surveillance and telephone-tapping operation.
Russia’s decision to give asylum to Edward Snowden – a former NSA contractor – was strongly criticized by the US.
Correspondents say that while Edward Snowden has in recent weeks increased his media visibility in Russia by giving several closely monitored interviews, he has conceded that he would like to go home, where he faces spying charges that could result in a substantial jail sentence.
News of his moves to extend his visa came as prosecutors in Germany searched the home of a defense ministry employee suspected of spying – the second such case in a week.
The US has not denied allegations that the intelligence agency employee arrested earlier this month was passing secret documents to the NSA.
The two countries, the biggest members of the NATO alliance, have been close allies for decades but relations were strained last year when it was revealed – from paperwork leaked by Edward Snowden – that the NSA had been monitoring German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s mobile phone calls.
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Pro-Russian rebels shot down a Ukrainian military helicopter killing all nine people on board near Sloviansk.
The Ukrainian army says the Mi-8 helicopter, used for transporting military cargo, was hit by a rocket shortly after take-off outside the rebel-held city of Sloviansk.
Ukraine’s Mi-8 helicopter, used for transporting military cargo, was hit by a rocket shortly after take-off outside the rebel-held city of Sloviansk
It comes a day after the rebels vowed to observe a ceasefire until Friday, in response to a government peace plan.
Russian President Vladimir Putin warned that the week-long truce was not enough.
Vladimir Putin said it should be extended to try to hold “substantive talks” between the Ukrainian government and the separatists.
The rebels have not commented publicly on the Ukrainian military’s claims.
Before Tuesday, the rebels – who continue to hold towns in the regions of Donetsk and Luhansk – had shot down at least two Ukrainian army helicopters and a plane.
Earlier in the day, President Vladimir Putin asked the Russian parliament to revoke the right of military intervention in Ukraine.
President Barack Obama has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the flow of weapons into Ukraine and halt support for separatists.
The White House said that in the phone call Barack Obama warned of further sanctions if Moscow failed to act.
The Kremlin says Vladimir Putin urged direct talks between Kiev and the rebels in the east. Russia denies arming them.
The separatists have said they will observe a truce initiated by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.
President Barack Obama has urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop the flow of weapons into Ukraine and halt support for separatists
The week-long ceasefire – part of a 15-point peace plan announced by Petro Poroshenko last week – is due to expire on Friday.
Late on Monday, White House spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters: “The president spoke to President Putin and once again urged him to support peace instead of allowing the provision of arms and materiel across the border and continuing support for militants and separatists who are further destabilizing the situation in Ukraine.”
“Russia will face additional costs if we do not see concrete actions to de-escalate the situation,” he said.
The US and EU have already imposed a number of sanctions, including visa bans and asset freezes on Russian officials, after Moscow annexed the Ukrainian region of Crimea in March.
Washington said last week that a number of Russian tanks and armored personnel carriers had crossed the border into the east of Ukraine.
The Russian government has strenuously denied that any of its tanks crossed the border into Ukraine.
On Monday, the US State Department said Washington also had new information that tanks were being readied at a site in south-western Russia to be sent into Ukraine.
As diplomatic efforts to ease the crisis continued, Vice President Joe Biden spoke to Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko in a phone call on Monday, telling him that the US would continue to strongly support his peace plan, the White House said.
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President Vladimir Putin has announced that he supports a peace plan tabled by Ukraine – as long as it includes “practical action” to start talks.
The Russian president said Kiev must negotiate and make compromises with pro-Russian rebels for the plan to be “viable and realistic”.
Vladimir Putin also said a week-long truce – declared by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko – must not be used as an “ultimatum”.
Clashes have continued in eastern Ukraine, with rebel attacks overnight injuring six border guards.
President Vladimir Putin said Kiev must negotiate and make compromises with pro-Russian rebels
The separatist fighters have dismissed the truce, accusing the Ukrainian army of violating their own ceasefire.
Meanwhile, the US has imposed sanctions – including asset freezes – against seven pro-Russian leaders in Ukraine.
Western leaders have threatened additional sanctions against Russia, which they accuse of stoking tension in Ukraine. Moscow denies the claim.
A statement issued by the Kremlin on Saturday evening said that President Vladimir Putin supported Petro Poroshenko’s ceasefire, “as well as his stated intentions to take a number of concrete steps to achieve a peaceful settlement”.
According to the statement, Vladimir Putin also insisted that the plan would only work if it led to “meaningful negotiations and political compromise between the opposing sides in eastern Ukraine”.
Ukrainian forces have struggled to regain control of buildings and territory that have been seized by the armed separatists in eastern regions bordering Russia.
On Friday night, the separatists attacked three Ukrainian border posts in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Kiev said.
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Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has proposed a unilateral ceasefire by his troops to allow pro-Russian separatists to lay down their weapons.
Petro Poroshenko said the peace plan would be implemented “shortly”, Interfax-Ukraine news agency reports.
His announcement comes after Petro Poroshenko held a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
They discussed a solution to the crisis in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels are battling government forces.
More than 30 gunmen were killed and wounded in fighting near the town of Schastya in the Luhansk region on Tuesday, a spokesman for the government’s “anti-terrorism operation” said.
UN human rights investigators say the security situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions has deteriorated significantly over the past month.
Petro Poroshenko has proposed a unilateral ceasefire by Ukrainian troops to allow pro-Russian separatists to lay down their weapons
A report reveals a rising number of abductions and killings, with civilians increasingly caught in the cross-fire and thousands forced to flee the violence.
Meanwhile Ukraine’s Interior Minister Arsen Avakov has said an explosion at a major pipeline in central Ukraine was caused by a bomb.
He said explosives had been placed under a concrete support at the Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod Pipeline.
No-one was reported injured by the blast. European and Russian companies said gas exports were not affected by Tuesday’s pipeline explosion.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony at the National University of Defense in Kiev, Petro Poroshenko said a “brief” truce would be introduced to allow “Russian mercenaries” to leave Ukraine.
The Kremlin confirmed that Petro Poroshenko and Vladimir Putin “touched upon” the issue of a possible ceasefire during their talks on Tuesday.
Correspondents say Petro Poroshenko has made similar comments in the past but it is not clear when the ceasefire will be implemented.
“The peace plan begins with my order for a unilateral ceasefire,” Interfax-Ukraine quoted the president as saying on Wednesday.
“Immediately after that, we must receive support for the presidential peace plan from all sides involved. This should happen very shortly.”
He said Russia was waging “a new type of warfare” with the use of professional subversive groups and volunteers.
Russia says it has launched a criminal investigation into Ukraine’s interior minister and a local governor over the killings of civilians and journalists.
Arsen Avakov and Igor Kolomoisky, governor of Dnipropetrovsk, are accused of organizing military operations, including rocket strikes, in cities such as Donetsk, Sloviansk and Mariupol that left more than 100 dead, Russian state media said.
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A Moscow court has given life sentences for two men who killed Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya in 2006.
They were among five men convicted of the crime last month.
Anna Politkovskaya, an investigative reporter and vocal critic of Russia’s war in Chechnya, was shot in a lift in her block of flats.
Three of the men had earlier been acquitted but Russia’s Supreme Court ordered a retrial. Investigators have not determined who ordered the killing.
Anna Politkovskaya’s reporting for Novaya Gazeta newspaper won international renown for her dogged investigation of Russian abuses in Chechnya
Rustam Makhmudov was given a life sentence for pulling the trigger.
His uncle Lom-Ali Gaitukayev, one of those found guilty of organizing the murder, was also jailed for life.
The three others convicted of the killing – two of whom are Rustam Makhmudov’s brothers – were given between 12 and 20 years in prison.
The prosecution had pushed for tougher sentences.
Anna Politkovskaya’s reporting for Novaya Gazeta newspaper won international renown for her dogged investigation of Russian abuses in Chechnya.
But her pieces, which were highly critical of President Vladimir Putin, then serving his second term, and the Chechen leadership, angered many in authority.
Last year a former police officer, Dmitry Pavlyuchenkov, was sentenced to 11 years in prison for supplying the murder weapon.
Anna Politkovskaya’s family say they will continue to campaign until the person who ordered the killing is uncovered.
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World heads of state are joining hundreds of veterans in Normandy to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
They will meet at Ouistreham, one of the five beaches where Allied troops landed on June 6, 1944.
French President Francois Hollande will give a speech followed by US President Barack Obama. Queen Elizabeth II and Russian President Vladimir Putin will also go.
World heads of state are joining hundreds of veterans in Normandy to mark the 70th anniversary of the D-Day landings
There will be a re-enactment of the landings, which were the start of the invasion of Nazi-occupied Europe.
The day’s commemorations began at midnight with a vigil at Pegasus Bridge near Ouistreham, marking the first assault of the D-Day invasion when British soldiers began the first Allied action of the campaign.
At 00:16 on June 6, 1944, six Horsa gliders carrying 181 men from the Glider Pilot Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry, landed silently to capture the strategically-vital bridge and another nearby.
This paved the way for soldiers landing on the Normandy beaches to move inland and reinforce their airborne colleagues. It also prevented the Germans from repelling the invasion on the coast.
Vladimir Putin will be at the ceremony with Prince Charles, who reportedly criticised the Russian president while speaking to a woman during a tour in Canada.
Ukraine’s President-elect Petro Poroshenko is expected to attend, amid tensions between his country and Russia.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has described Prince Charles’ alleged comparison of him with Adolf Hitler as “unacceptable”.
Former Polish war refugee Marienne Ferguson, who met Prince Charles during a royal tour to Canada, said he had likened some Nazi actions in Europe to those of Vladimir Putin.
Vladimir Putin, who has faced criticism in the West over Russia’s actions in Ukraine, said if Prince Charles had made such comments they were “wrong” and “not royal behavior”.
Clarence House declined to comment.
Vladimir Putin has described Prince Charles’ alleged comparison of him with Adolf Hitler as unacceptable
Asked about Prince Charles’ reported comments during an interview with international news agencies, Vladimir Putin said: “In such cases, I am reminded of a good expression: If you’re angry, you’re wrong.
“Pass this on both to the prime minister and Prince Charles. He has visited our country many times. I did not hear him say that.
“If that is so, then of course it is unacceptable. I think that he himself understands this. He is a well-brought-up man. I am acquainted both with him and members of the royal family.
“This is not royal behavior.”
Despite criticism from the UK of Russia’s recent actions, Vladimir Putin played down a worsening of relations between the countries.
He added: “I think that if our partners in Great Britain, just as I am, are guided by national interests rather than some other considerations, then all this will pass quite quickly and we’ll continue to co-operate as we have done before.”
Prince Charles was speaking to 78-year-old Marienne Ferguson, who left Poland for Canada shortly before the Nazi occupation, at an immigration museum in Halifax, Nova Scotia.
They had been discussing Hitler’s takeover of countries. Marienne Ferguson said the prince said “something to the effect of ‘it’s not unlike… what Putin is doing'”.
Prince Charles and Vladimir Putin are both due to attend a D-Day anniversary event in France next month.
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President Vladimir Putin has said he will respect the outcome of Ukraine’s presidential election on May 25.
Speaking in St Petersburg, Vladimir Putin said Russia was prepared to work with whoever was elected Ukraine’s president in Sunday’s vote.
It is the first time Vladimir Putin has explicitly indicated that he will accept Ukraine’s election result.
Violence in the east, particularly Donetsk and Luhansk, has seriously disrupted preparations for the polls.
Vladimir Putin has said he will respect the outcome of Ukraine’s presidential election on May 25
Some pro-Russian separatists have warned people against voting, while election officials and voter lists have been seized at gunpoint.
At least 14 government soldiers were killed in clashes with pro-Russia separatists in the Volnovakha area south of the city of Donetsk on Thursday.
Further clashes were reported on Friday between pro-Russia separatists and self-defense fighters in the Donetsk region, with reports of at least two people killed.
The presidential elections were called after the last elected president, Viktor Yanukovych, was deposed in February amid mass protests against his pro-Russian policies.
“We understand that the people of Ukraine want their country to emerge from this crisis. We will treat their choice with respect,” Vladimir Putin told an economic forum in St Petersburg.
“It would have been better to hold a referendum and adopt a new constitution. Under the current constitution (Viktor) Yanukovych is still in power,” he added.
Vladimir Putin also voiced concern that Ukraine would join NATO and said that he hoped the leadership in Kiev would end military action in eastern Ukraine.
He said he believed Ukraine had descended into “full-scale civil war” but denied that Moscow was behind acts involving pro-Russia separatists.
The Donetsk and Luhansk regions followed Crimea in holding independence referendums earlier this month.
All three votes have not been recognized by Kiev and its Western allies.
Russian and British diplomats are to meet and discuss comments reportedly made by Prince Charles about President Vladimir Putin.
Prince Charles is said to have likened some Nazi actions in Europe to Vladimir Putin’s policies, during a conversation with a former Polish war refugee.
It is believed the Russian embassy has asked for clarification of the remarks.
Prince Charles is said to have likened some Nazi actions in Europe to Vladimir Putin’s policies
A Foreign Office spokesman said an official would meet Russia’s deputy ambassador for talks on Thursday.
Prince Charles reportedly made the comments during a conversation with Marienne Ferguson at an immigration museum in Nova Scotia, Canada, where she works.
They had been discussing Hitler’s takeover of countries when Ms Ferguson said the prince remarked “something to the effect of ‘it’s not unlike… what Putin is doing,'”.
Prince Charles and President Vladimir Putin are both due to attend a D-Day anniversary event in France next month.
Clarence House would not comment on what it said was a private conversation.
“But we would like to stress that the Prince of Wales would not seek to make a public political statement during a private conversation,” it said.
On Monday, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Pier 21, Canada’s national immigration museum in Halifax, during their four-day tour of the country.
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Prince Charles likened some Nazi actions in Europe to those of Russia’s Vladimir Putin, said Marienne Ferguson, a former Polish war refugee who met the prince in Canada.
Marienne Ferguson was speaking after meeting Prince Charles at a Nova Scotia immigration museum where she works.
As they discussed Hitler’s takeover of countries, Prince Charles “said something to the effect of <<it’s not unlike… what Putin is doing>>,” she recalled.
Clarence House said it would not comment on a private conversation.
Prince Charles and Vladimir Putin are both due to attend a D-Day anniversary event in France next month.
Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Pier 21, Canada’s national immigration museum in Halifax
On Monday, Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall visited Pier 21, Canada’s national immigration museum in Halifax, during their four-day tour of the country.
The prince chatted to museum volunteer Marriene Ferguson, who left Poland for Canada just prior to the Nazi occupation.
Marienne Ferguson, now 78, managed to escape to Canada along with her parents and two sisters, but other members of her family were sent to Nazi camps, according to the Daily Mail.
“He [Prince Charles] asked when I came to Canada, I told him 1939,” Marienne Ferguson said.
They had discussed how “Hitler was going into different countries and taking them over”.
She added that she could not “exactly remember” the phrase Prince Charles had used, but that he then “said something to the effect of ‘it is not unlike what is now happening in Russia, what Putin is doing'”.
“But it was only a moment… It was a very short remark.”
Vladimir Putin has been widely condemned since he annexed Crimea from Ukraine in March.
Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made the same comparison between Vladimir Putin and Hitler in March, when Russia began issuing passports to Ukrainian citizens.
“Now if this sounds familiar, it’s what Hitler did back in the ’30s,” Hillary Clinton said.
Prince Charles has previously faced criticism at Westminster over his so-called “black spider” memos expressing his views on controversial issues to ministers.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a huge gas supply contract with China during his visit to the Asian country.
The deal between Russia’s Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) has been 10 years in the making. No official price has been given but it estimated to be worth over $400 billion.
Russia has been keen to find an alternative energy market for its gas as it faces the possibility of European sanctions over the crisis in Ukraine.
Shares in Gazprom rose 2% on the Russian market following the news.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a huge gas supply contract with China during his visit to the Asian country (photo Reuters)
The agreement is expected to deliver some 38 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year eastward to China’s burgeoning economy, starting around 2018.
The main argument has been over price and China is thought to have been driving a hard bargain.
Over the last ten years it has found other gas suppliers. Turkmenistan is now China’s largest foreign gas supplier, and last year it started importing piped natural gas from Myanmar.
Another sticking point has been the construction of pipelines into China.
Currently there is one complete pipeline that runs across Russia’s Far East to the Chinese border, called “The Power of Siberia”. The pipeline was started in 2007, three years after Gazprom and CNPC signed their initial agreement in 2004.
Financing the $22-30 billion cost of sending it into China has been central to the latest discussions.
China is Russia’s largest single trading partner, with bilateral trade flows of $90 billion in 2013.
China and Russia aim to double the volume to $200 billion in 10 years.
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President Vladimir Putin has ordered the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine’s border, the Kremlin says.
Units in the Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions should return to their permanent bases, a statement said.
Russia has made a similar statements in the past, only for NATO to report no change.
Vladimir Putin has ordered the withdrawal of the Russian troops from Ukraine’s border
Correspondents say the removal of some 40,000 Russian troops near the Ukrainian border could help de-escalate the Ukraine crisis.
The apparent build-up of Russian forces in the region has ratcheted up diplomatic tensions in recent weeks.
“In connection with the completion of the planned spring phase of military training… at ranges in Rostov, Belgorod and Bryansk regions, Putin ordered the defense minister to withdraw the troops that took part in the exercises,” the Kremlin statement provided to Russian news agencies said.
Tensions between Russia and the West rose after the overthrow of pro-Kremlin Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in February, following months of street protests.
Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea triggered a crisis in relations.
Meanwhile, clashes have taken place between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russia separatist militants in eastern Ukraine.
One Ukrainian soldier was killed and one was injured on Monday in attack by separatists on a checkpoint near Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine’s Interfax news agency quoted the country’s defense ministry as saying.
On Saturday, the separatists appointed a prime minister for what they call the People’s Republic of Donetsk.
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Vladimir Putin is making his first visit to Crimea since Russia annexed it from Ukraine.
The Russian president told crowds marking the 1945 Soviet victory over the Nazis that Crimea had shown loyalty to a “historical truth” in choosing to be part of Russia.
The Kiev government protested at the visit, calling it a “gross violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty”.
Kiev also reported that more than 20 people had died in a security operation against separatists in Mariupol.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said that about 20 pro-Russian protesters and one Ukrainian security officer had been killed in the southern port.
Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists had clashed at the police headquarters, which was set on fire.
Vladimir Putin is making his first visit to Crimea since Russia annexed it from Ukraine
In the Crimean port of Sevastopol, Vladimir Putin thanked the armed forces for their role in World War Two and hailed the incorporation of the peninsula into the Russian Federation.
He watched a fly-by of Russian aircraft and addressed seamen on naval vessels, as crowds gathered on cliffs overlooking the harbor.
Vladimir Putin said: “I am sure that 2014 will go into the annals of our whole country as the year when the nations living here firmly decided to be together with Russia, affirming fidelity to the historical truth and the memory of our ancestors.”
He earlier addressed thousands during a huge, hour-long military parade in Moscow’s Red Square, vowing to defend the “motherland”.
Vladimir Putin told the crowd that May 9, known as Victory Day in Russia, was a “day of grief and eternal memory” and stressed how the “iron will of the Soviet people” had saved Europe from slavery.
“It is a holiday when an overwhelming force of patriotism triumphs, when all of us feel particularly acutely what it means to be loyal to the motherland and how important it is to defend its interests,” he said.
NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Vladimir Putin’s visit to Crimea was “inappropriate”, adding: “We consider the Russian annexation of Crimea to be illegal, illegitimate and we don’t recognize it.”
US National Security Council spokesperson Laura Magnuson said: “We do not accept Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. Such a visit will only serve to fuel tensions.”
Ukraine’s interim authorities held subdued memorials to mark the Soviet victory.
A brief veterans’ ceremony was held in Kiev’s main park, in front of PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk and several former presidents.
The authorities feared pro-Russian activists would try to stoke violence if there were any higher profile celebrations.
Nazi Germany invaded the USSR – which included Ukraine – in June 1941 and advanced almost as far as Moscow before being driven back to Berlin.
Crimea was put under Ukrainian administration in 1954.
After the collapse of the USSR, Russia maintained a large military presence on the peninsula, and more than half of the region’s population identified themselves as ethnic Russian.
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Russia held a huge parade to mark 69 years since the Soviets defeated the Nazis, amid a surge of patriotism over the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin said it was a day when an “overwhelming force of patriotism triumphs”, and vowed to defend the interests of the motherland.
Unconfirmed reports say Vladimir Putin will visit a parade in Crimea later.
Festivities in Ukraine will be muted amid fears of provoking further violence in the south and east.
Moscow denies fomenting pro-Russian separatist unrest in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin did not mention Ukraine in his speech, instead stressing how the “iron will of the Soviet people” had saved Europe from slavery.
He told the crowd that May 9, known as Victory Day in Russia, was a “day of grief and eternal memory”.
Russia held a huge parade to mark 69 years since the Soviets defeated the Nazis
“It is a holiday when an overwhelming force of patriotism triumphs, when all of us feel particularly acutely what it means to be loyal to the motherland and how important it is to defend its interests,” Vladimir Putin said.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said it would be a pity if Vladimir Putin were to use the commemorations to visit Crimea.
The parade in Moscow traditionally features a display of military hardware and a show of patriotic fervor on Red Square.
The scope of this year’s event was bigger than usual:
- The parade lasted 59 minutes, compared with its usual 45 minute running time
- Fifty more military vehicles were on display compared with last year
- The Sevastopol-based Black Sea Fleet played a larger role
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s interim authorities have discouraged public gatherings amid fears that pro-Russian activists might try to stoke violence.
“Roadblocks have been set up around our capital, where serious checks are being carried out, because we expect that provocative actions may occur on May 9,” said Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov.
A low-key wreath-laying ceremony is planned in Kiev.
In south and eastern Ukraine, pro-Russian separatists have said they will go ahead with independence referendums on Sunday.
Vladimir Putin had called for the referendums on autonomy to be postponed to create the conditions for dialogue.
Activists remain in control of many official buildings across the south and east despite a military operation by Kiev to remove them. Dozens of people have been killed in the unrest.
Ukraine is preparing for elections on May 25 following the ousting of pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych in February by pro-Western protesters.
Nazi Germany invaded the USSR – which included Ukraine – in June 1941 and advanced almost as far as Moscow before being driven back to Berlin in some of the fiercest fighting of the war.
Russia estimates that 26.6 million Soviet citizens were killed in the war, about 8.7 million of them members of the armed forces.
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Vladimir Putin says Ukraine’s May 25 presidential election is a step “in the right direction”.
However, the Russian president said the vote would decide nothing unless the rights of “all citizens” were protected.
Ukraine’s interim PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk described as “hot air” Vladimir Putin’s call for an independence referendum, planned this weekend by separatists in the east, to be delayed.
Vladimir Putin also said that Russia had pulled back its troops from the border, as tension remains high.
Vladimir Putin met Didier Burkhalter, the Swiss president and current chairman of the OSCE, in Moscow (photo Euronews)
Moscow has said it will protect the rights of the largely Russian-speaking people in the south and east against what it calls an undemocratic government in Kiev.
Kiev has rejected pro-Russian activists’ demands for greater autonomy, fearing it could lead to the break-up of the country, and has sent in troops in recent weeks to seize back official buildings occupied by rebels.
Vladimir Putin suggested that Kiev’s military operation in eastern Ukraine could be halted in exchange for a postponement of the referendum scheduled to take place in several areas on Sunday.
Arseniy Yatsenyuk accused Vladimir Putin of “talking through his hat”.
Earlier on Wednesday, pro-Russian separatists took back the city hall in the southern port of Mariupol after it was briefly taken over by Ukrainian government forces.
Vladimir Putin made his suggestion after talks in Moscow with Didier Burkhalter, the Swiss president and current chairman of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
On the forthcoming presidential elections, Vladimir Putin said: “I would like to stress that… while they are a move in the right direction, [they] will not decide anything if all the citizens of Ukraine fail to understand how their rights are protected after the elections are held.”
Vladimir Putin also said he had pulled back Russian forces from the border with Ukraine to “places of regular exercises, at training grounds”, although NATO said it had “not seen any significant change to the disposition of troops along the border”.
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