Russia is taking steps to strengthen the Syrian army’s air defense, reported Izvestia newspaper, citing a well-informed source in diplomatic circles. Russian authorities are considering the possibility of sending a batch of Pantsir surface-to-air systems to Syria.

The deal was made several years ago but was only partially implemented because of financial reasons. It was decided to send the remaining Pantsirs to Damascus without demanding immediate payment for delivery.

The surveyed experts …

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Pedro Agramunt, has insisted that the Assembly should do all that they can to return representatives of Russia, who left PACE due to the sanctions, to the plenary hall.

Evropeyska Pravda reported that Agramunt said this at the opening of the autumn session of PACE in Strasbourg.

“It is not beneficial for Russia, the Assembly or one of the 46 member countries if Russia is not part of PACE,” he said.

Agramunt also …

Ukraine will not unilaterally withdraw troops from the demarcation line in accordance with the framework agreement. This was said on the 112 Ukraine TV channel by the Deputy Head of the Department of Information Technology of the Ministry of Defense, Serhiy Halushko.

"It is not just unilateral actions on our part. There is a control mechanism, and our intelligence sees what the enemy is doing. If we see that their party does not do something, or is trying to deceive us, then our units will not …

The European Union expects Ukraine to fulfill a number of conditions before granting a regular financial aid tranche of EUR 600 million, stated Hugues Mingarelli, head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, in Kyiv on October 10.

The key conditions are a lifting of the 10-year moratorium on the export of timber imposed by Ukraine in 2015 and the organization of social security for internally displaced persons. Other conditions, according to a European official, have already been fulfilled by Kyiv. …

Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski believes that Russia’s deployment of Iskander missile systems in the Kaliningrad region is an unreasonable and absolutely disproportionate response to the strengthening of the eastern NATO flank. He stated this opinion during a meeting with his Belarusian colleague Vladimir Makei in Warsaw, TVN24 reported.

“We see no grounds for such strengthening of the Kaliningrad garrison,” Waszczykowski said when commenting on the deployment of Iskander …

Russia is holding discussions with Egypt on possibility of leasing some of the Egyptian military facilities, including the former Soviet military airbase in the city of Sidi Barrani.  

This was reported by Russian Izvestia newspaper citing sources in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian Defense Ministry.

According to Izvestia's sources, the restoration of the Sidi Barrani base will introduce a new phase of cooperation between the two countries. It will also help Russia address the …

Separatists of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic will hold "tactical exercises" next week according to separatist commander Andrey Sevastyanov. Information about the exercises was disseminated by the separatists’ media.

According to Sevastyanov, they are now holding “preparations for tactical exercises.” According to the exercise plan, yesterday, separatist units were brought to the highest degree of combat readiness, moved "from places of permanent deployment" and "converge in the …

In an interview on French television, the president of France, François Hollande, stated that he asks himself a question whether it is necessary to meet with Putin in person on October 19, because he questions its usefulness.

“I’ve asked myself, ‘would it be useful? Is it necessary or it will be a pressure? Can we guarantee that we will change what he [Putin] is doing with the Syrian regime, namely, supporting Syrian air forces that are bombing civilians in Aleppo?’” Hollande stated in an …