From our newsroom on the $3 billion plum contract that has gone to a Putin ally:
The Russian government has awarded the contract for the construction of a $3 billion bridge to Crimea to a longtime ally of President Vladimir Putin.
The government on January 30 published a decree on its website naming the Stroygazmontazh (SGM) company as the contractor to build a bridge linking Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula that Moscow annexed from Ukraine in March, with Russia over the Kerch Strait.
SGM is owned by Arkady Rotenberg, a childhood friend and longtime judo partner of Putin's.
Rotenberg is barred from entering or holding assets in the United States and European Union under sanctions imposed over Russia's interefence in Ukraine.
The government decree said the cost of the bridge cannot exceed 212 billion rubles ($3 billion) and the project must be completed by December 2018.
The contract was awarded without a public tender.
Based on reporting by Reuters and AP
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
Kyiv and pro-Russian rebels traded accusations over deadly attacks in eastern Ukraine as uncertainty clouded plans for new peace talks.
The city administration in Donetsk, one of two separatist-held provincial capitals, said five people were killed when shells hit a cultural center on January 30 and that two others were killed when a shell hit a trolleybus.
The Ukrainian military said that five of its soldiers were killed and 23 wounded in the previous 24 hours.
It said rebels used mortars, rockets, and artillery in attacks on government positions at Debaltseve, a key junction between Donetsk and Luhansk, and in the vicinity of the strategic Azov Sea coastal city of Mariupol.
Fighting has escalated this month in the conflict, which has killed more than 5,100 people since April.
Belarus said on January 29 that representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the rebels, and the OSCE would meet in the capital, Minsk, on January 30 for talks aimed at ending the conflict.
But Interfax news agency quoted a Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying there was no final decision on a meeting and consulations were continuing.
From RFE/RL's News Desk:
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance must prepare for further challenges after a "black year" of Russian intervention in Ukraine and terror attacks on Europe's streets.
Stoltenberg, who unveiled NATO's 2014 annual report in Brussels, said he would soon reveal details of which countries would take part in a so-called "spearhead" quick reaction force, which the alliance's leaders agreed on at a summit in September.
He said the force would help cope with a "fundamentally changed" security environment but urged the 28 member states to keep their commitments to boost defense spending to the equivalent of 2 percent of annual economic output within 10 years.
"2014 was not a good year for European security. In fact it was a black year," said Stoltenberg.
He said Russia's interference in Ukraine was a key problem for European security.
Stoltenberg also warned of the threat from Islamic State militants and other extremist groups on NATO's borders.
Stoltenberg said he was likely to meet Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference next week.
Just in from RFE/RL's News Desk:
Pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine say peace talks due to take place in Minsk on January 30 have been postponed.
Denis Pushilin, who represents rebels holding territory in Ukraine's Donetsk region, said he and Luhansk separatist official Vladislav Deinego would leave Minsk for Moscow.
The Belarusian Foreign Ministry had said on January 29 that talks involving representatives of Ukraine, Russia, the separatists holding territory in eastern Ukraine, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe would meet in Minsk for talks aimed at ending hostilities.
Pushilin said the Russian-backed separatists would agree to a cease-fire with Ukrainian forces based on the current line of contact between the two sides.
Rebels have taken hundreds of square kilometers from Ukrainian forces since the first line of contact was established in a cease-fire agreement in September.
But Pushilin added that separatists are prepared to take more territory in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions if Ukrainian forces launch an "offensive."
PHOTO GALLERY: Death In Donetsk
Civilians Suffer, Again, As Shells Rain Down On Donetsk
VIDEO: At least six people were killed in shelling which hit a cultural center and a bus in the separatist-held city of Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on January 30. Separately, the Ukrainian government said five of its troops were killed in the previous 24 hours. The casualties came at the end of one of the bloodiest weeks in Ukraine for several months. Warning: Contains disturbing images. (Reuters)
