Europe

MOSCOW, Dec. 23 (Xinhua) -- Washington, by imposing sanctions on its allies related to the construction of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, proves its unreliability, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Monday.

"When the closest allies are punished for solving their economic problems and tasks related to energy security, I think that no country in the world should ever doubt that if the United States promises them something, they will be abandoned at any moment," Lavrov said when speaking at the Federation Council, or upper house of the parliament.

BERLIN, Dec 23 (NNN-AGENCIES) — German cabin crew union UFO said arbitration talks with Lufthansa had failed and its members could stage strikes any time from now on, though they would spare passengers industrial action on Dec 24, 25 and 26.

In addition to a dispute over pay and pensions, UFO has been at odds with Lufthansa for months over the union’s legal status. Lufthansa has said the union’s leadership team that took office earlier this year was not elected in a way that met legal requirements.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — In a back corner of the swank H Bar in Houston, near a huge photo of Brigitte Bardot with a dangling cigarette and a deck of cards, two Russian-speaking men offered a Ukrainian gas executive what seemed like an outrageous business proposal.

Andrew Favorov, the No. 2 at Ukraine’s state-run gas company Naftogaz, says he sat on a red leather bench seat and listened wide-eyed as the men boasted of their connections to President Donald Trump and proposed a deal to sell large quantities of liquified natural gas from Texas to Ukraine.

TALLINN, December 21. /TASS/: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson hopes for better relations with Russia, he said in an interview with Estonia’s ERR News on Saturday.

"I am like many people in western Europe who always hope that we can have better relations with Russia. Always we hope," Johnson said.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Russia’s partners in Europe will hold consultations on Saturday with the United States Department of the Treasury for explanations concerning sanctions against the gas pipelines Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Kozak, who is in charge of the energy sector, told reporters on Saturday.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Chairman of the Russian State Duma’s (lower house) Foreign Affairs Committee Leonid Slutsky is hoping that the German leadership will not let US sanctions affect the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, the member of parliament told TASS on Saturday, underlining that these sanctions hurt European interests.

KIEV, December 22. /TASS/: The agreement reached by Ukraine and Russia on gas transit will help keep jobs, while the national budget will receive income, leader of the Ukrainian Opposition Platform - For Life party Yuri Boyko said at the Verkhovna Rada (parliament) on Saturday.

MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/: Russian aircraft conducted two patrol missions in the Syrian air space in the past 24 hours, Major General Yuri Borenkov, chief of the Russian center for reconciliation of conflicting sides in Syria, told reporters on Saturday.

"The Air Force has conducted two patrols along the route of Umm-Mial - Metras - Ayn Isa - the power substation Mabruka-Kamyshly and along the route of Kamyshly - Tell al-Shur-Gharbi - the Mabrouka power substation - Tell al-Shur-Gharbi - Kamyshly," Borenkov said.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: Moscow sees Washington’s desire to drive a wedge between Russia and China, but it is not going to worsen its relations with Beijing just to make the United States happy, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the Bolshaya Igra (Big Game) program on Russia’s television Channel One.

MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/: New requirements for entering Russia only on foreign passports for Ukrainians are aimed at stopping criminals from fleeing to Russia, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadim Pristaiko said on Sunday.

"Entry on foreign passports will prevent alimony debtors and the violators of Ukrainian law from escaping responsibility and fleeing to Russia. Now border guards will be able to get a clear picture who is leaving the country and why," Pristaiko wrote on his Twitter account.