[unable to retrieve full-text content]

President Vladimir Putin has sent the treaties on the accession to Russia of four formerly Ukrainian regions to the State Duma for ratification. The residents of Kherson and Zaporozhye regions, and the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics, overwhelmingly voted in favor of joining Russia at referendums in September.

The group is reportedly set to develop alternative payment mechanisms to shift away from the US dollar and euro The BRICS countries are working on establishing a new reserve currency to better serve their economic interests, ambassador at large of Russia’s Foreign Ministry Pavel Knyazev said this week. It will be based on a basket of…