Russia expects to sign an intergovernmental gas pipeline agreement with Turkey in the second quarter of 2015 in order to start the first gas deliveries in December 2016, Russian energy company Gazprom announced on Tuesday.

The resumption of military operations in the south-east of Ukraine undermines the effectiveness of the preparations for the meeting in the “Norman format”.

Russia and Iran signed an intergovernmental agreement on military cooperation. The agreement was signed in Tehran.

The West appears to be split over new sanctions against Russia following an artillery attack against the Ukrainian port of Mariupol that Kiev blames on the anti-government forces, says a report by the Wall Street Journal.

According to the Direct Matin edition quoting the Prosecutor Yvon Calvet, all of them are Chechen. The detention was performed in the evening of Monday, January 19 at the city of Beziers (Hérault department).

Russia is planning to supply the Indian Navy with new submarines, equipped with air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems if India opens a tender for them, a senior official at Russia's Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation told the press.

According to the World Bank’s Chief Economist for Russia Birgit Hanzl, Greece decided to significantly reduce wages in the public sector, even despite mass social protests.

According to MEPs, this should “help those Member States that currently have to rely on Russia as the sole supplier” of energy. The resolution notes that steady supplies of gas to Ukraine are very important for the energy security of the EU countries.

The Russian government approved the allocation of an equivalent of 2.4 billion euros, but no more than 150 billion roubles, from the National Welfare Fund (NWF) to “Rosatom” for construction a nuclear power plant “Hanhikivi-1” in Finland,

Reduction of Russia’s GDP will amount to 5.5 percent in 2015. Such assessment was provided by the international agency Moody’s, commenting on the decision of lowering the rating of Armenia.