Going forward, the Russian Ministry of Defense and Special Services will conduct purchases through classified means, the newspaper Kommersant, citing clarifying comments by the Russian Ministry of Finance, Federal Treasury and Federal Antimonopoly Service.

According to these clarifications, the Federal Security Service (FSB), Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS), and Ministry of Defense, as well as all organizations subordinate to these structures, may only conduct procurement that is intended …

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine requested that President Petro Poroshenko dismiss the head of the Ukroboronprom State Enterprise, Roman Romanov, and expects a new candidate to be nominated by the recently renewed supervisory board of the state enterprise.

"I recently said that I will not work with the head of Ukroboronprom, Romanov. I waited so that perhaps he would decide for himself and resign, but this did not happen. Today I propose that we make the decision and file a petition …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he expects to conclude major trade and investment contracts with French businessmen at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in 2018, according to a transcript from a meeting published on the Kremlin website.

"We expect that new major trade and investment contracts will be concluded at the upcoming International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg in May," the Russian President said at a meeting with members of the Franco-Russian Chamber of …

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) released a report on the country’s 2017 payment balance, noting that for the third year in a row, the country has managed to finish the year with a surplus: USD 2.6 billion compared to USD 1.3 billion from the year before. At the same time, the 2017 current account shows a deficit of USD 3.8 billion as against USD 3.5 billion year over year. The data was published on the Regulator’s website.

According to the report, import total volume grew by 21% to USD 49 …

The Moldovan Government supports the introduction of a Constitutional article on the country’s European aspirations, as stated in a message on the website of the Government of Moldova.

"Today the Cabinet of Ministers expressed a favorable opinion on the legislative initiative to amend the Constitution to highlight the country's European integration aspirations and promote the Republic of Moldova’s orientation towards the European democratic value space," the report said.

The Ministers …

The Stralsund mining office issued a permit for the construction of a 55-kilometer section of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in German territorial waters in the Baltic Sea, as reported by the press service of Nord Stream 2 AG.

"Today, Nord Stream 2 AG received permission to build and operate on the offshore section of the Nord Stream-2 gas pipeline in the territorial waters of Germany and in the land area in the vicinity of Lubmin near Greifswald. The Stralsund mining office issued an official …

The USA will allocate $350,000 to finance the international independent mechanism for investigation of crimes in Syria, hoping that this mechanism will allow the investigation of chemical attacks as well. The move came on the heels of the termination of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons UN Joint Investigative Mechanism.

“The USA will allocate $350,000 for the international impartial and independent mechanism for investigation of crimes committed in Syria. It will …

The first deputy chairman of the Supreme Court of Belarus, Valery Kalinkovich, stated that Courts in Belarus sentenced five people to death in 2017, reports Deutsche Welle.  

According to Kalinkovich, three people were sentenced to life imprisonment.

“We have two forms of exceptionally severe punishment: life imprisonment and the death penalty,” Interfax quoted Kalinkovich as saying.

Earlier, Belarusian human rights activists knew about of four death sentences in 2017: Mazyr resident Kirill …