The authorities of Belarus announced the receipt of a Russian-allocated loan of $700 million.

"On September 15, 2017, the state financial loan from the Russian Federation was fully credited to the Ministry of Finance’s account," the Belarusian Ministry of Finance reported.

The loan is granted to the republic for a ten-year period. In the order signed by Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev it was noted that the money was allocated "in order to strengthen further friendly relations” and to allow the …

The Kremlin admitted that it is "restructuring" the financing for the DPR (Donetsk People’s Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People’s Republic), but stated that it would not stop providing the separatists with "humanitarian assistance."

The Press Secretary for the Russian President, Dmitry Peskov said, "There is definitely redistribution" of funds, but this "does not mean a reduction in some areas" of financing, RBC news agancy reports.

In clarifying the question about the amount of financing for …

Siemens, under pressure from Russia, refused to continue supplying equipment for the modernization of the Ukrainian gas transportation system (GTS), Interfax-Ukraine reports quoting the head of the board of Naftogaz of Ukraine, Andriy Kobolyev, as saying.

"The first compressors had already been brought in; they were Siemens compressors. But then Siemens called and said that if we brought them, then we would lose the Russian market," the head of Naftogaz said.

According to him, the company had …

During the Yalta European Strategy (YES) Annual Meeting in Kyiv, Former US Secretary of State John Kerry stated that he  is concerned that the deployment of a UN peacekeeping mission in the combat zone in the Donbas may be unsafe and turn out to be a trap.

"[With respect to certain UN forces], you have to be really careful that it is not a trap. If you’ve got this exclusively on the line of contact, then this can conceivably become the de facto recognition of this line of contact as meaning …

Employees of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), together with the Ukrainian National Police, documented and stopped an attempt to conduct an "anti-Ukrainian action" in Kyiv by Russian Special Services, as reported by SBU on the department's website.

The SBU stated that "law enforcers [have] established that Russian Special Services planned fake protests on behalf of the so-called "Assembly of mothers of Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) participants."

"The pseudo-event was initiated and …

The number of Vladimir Putin's agents in the presidential elections in Russia will increase in 2018 in comparison with previous elections, due to the addition of regional leaders of public opinion, reported Znak.com news website , citing sources in regional administrations, reported this.

The sources said that the Kremlin asked for lists of leaders of public opinion, including well-known and respected athletes, cultural figures and philanthropists. A special wish was that they lived not only …

The Russian Ministry of Defense has transferred four modern MiG-29 SMT fighter jets to the airbase in Khmeimim (Latakia, Syria). The fighters were delivered to the department by the MiG Corporation in December 2015.

According to Kommersant, the fighter jets were sent to the region in order to provide practice for as many pilots as possible, as well as to test the aircraft in combat conditions.

Kommersant reports that the first confirmations of the presence of MiG-29 SMTs in Syria appeared. A …

The International Monetary Fund listed the conditions for Ukraine to receive the fifth tranche of the IMF loan. According to the fund, Kyiv must approve pension reform, accelerate privatization, and show results in the fight against corruption, UNIAN reports.

"Regarding the fourth revision, we expect that it will be possible after the legislation necessary for the revision is adopted," IMF Director of Communications, Gerry Rice said. "The key issues are pension reform, steps to accelerate …