Ukraine says it won’t repay Russian debt due by weekend

Moscow turned the taps back on in October under a deal that saw Kiev switch to a pre-payment system, meaning that cash-strapped Ukraine must stump up money in advance to cover Russian gas deliveries. Putin said at a televised news conference that once the Syrians decide it’s time to stop fighting and launch talks, “we aren’t going to be more Syrian than the Syrians themselves”, and Moscow will wrap up its military action.

Putin added during the press conference that Russian Federation is interested in seeking a quick solution to the conflicts in eastern Ukraine through open and honest dialogue.

Crimea’s Russia-backed leaders and Moscow claimed that Ukraine’s Western-backed leadership was responsible for bringing down the power lines – an allegation Kyiv has repeatedly denied.

Putin said at Thursday’s news conference that Russia made a decision to suspend air travel with Egypt because its agencies aren’t immediately capable of guaranteeing safety of Russian citizens.

In the same statement the PM noted “historic importance” of the European Commission’s expected proposal to allow Georgian citizens visa-free short stay in the Schengen area and said that the Georgian authorities “reasonable foreign policy” yields “tangible results”.

Tensions between the countries have been high since Russian Federation annexed Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula a year ago.

Russian Federation has stepped up the economic pressure in recent weeks, moving to impose trade restrictions on a wide range of Ukrainian products from the first of the year, when a trade deal between Ukraine and the European Union is slated to take effect.

President Vladimir Putin insisted Thursday that Russian Federation has no regular troops in eastern Ukraine but admitted that some people have been carrying out military tasks there.

Following the March 2014 annexation of Crimea, Putin was unwavering in his insistence that the groups of highly professional troops in unmarked uniforms, popularly known as “little green men”, were local self-defense battalions.

There seems to be no end to Russia -Ukraine tensions, be it military or economy.

He said Moscow would not be cowed by Turkey, a North Atlantic Treaty Organisation member.

Meanwhile, the IMF criticized the Ukrainian government Friday, expressing concerns that the country’s parliament might reject a tax overhaul plan that would unlock the latest tranche of much-needed funds from the lender’s $17.5 billion bailout program.