In addition to GDP data, Russian Federation also reported a trade surplus of $8.1 billion in June as well as a $1.9 billion increase in global foreign exchange reserves, according to the Bank of Russian Federation.
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European Union foreign affairs chief Federica Mogherini urged Russian Federation and Ukraine to avoid escalating tensions between the two countries.
He also ordered Ukrainian diplomats to organize his conversations with the United States and European leaders and Putin. Russian Federation claims the Ukrainians are planning to retake the peninsula by force.
Experts say that suggests the Kremlin is tiring of the long stalemate over the war-torn Donbass region, and is readying for a concerted push to solve remaining issues and prompt an end to the Western sanctions that even Mr. Putin admits are “severely harming” Russia’s economy. “This was to ensure that certain special forces… so there would be no infiltration”, she said to Dozhd, an independent TV station.
“This is a very tense time”, U.S. State Department spokesman Elizabeth Trudeau told reporters in Washington late Thursday.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also spoke with Lavrov on Thursday, calling for both sides to avoid exacerbating the crisis.
On August 10, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said that it had prevented a series of terrorist attacks in Crimea that had been planned by the Ukrainian Defense Ministry’s intelligence agency.
Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev on Friday said that Moscow could formally sever diplomatic ties with Kyiv after reported clashes between Russian forces and alleged Ukrainian “saboteurs” in the annexed Crimean Peninsula. The premier said there was a Ukrainian incursion into the territory, which he called a crime that needs to be investigated.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called Russia’s claim of an incursion preposterous and a pretext for Moscow to make more military threats.
Ukrainian troops near Crimea and along the frontline with pro-Russian separatists in two other eastern regions have been placed on high alert, and Kiev’s military intelligence said “the enemy is planning large-scale provocative actions”. That incident and a second on Monday, according to the FSB, resulted in the death of two Russians, Russia said. Full commitment to the European Union non-recognition for Crimea. The conflict in the east has killed more than 9,500 people and is still raging.
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Meanwhile, Russia launched war games in the Black Sea, and Putin summoned his security council amid fears that the hostility further threatens an already-shaky peace process between the two countries.
