In his first major foreign policy address on behalf of the administration of the US president, Vice President Mike Pence has said that the President of the US Donald Trump believes that the US and Russia can find ways for cooperation but Moscow should be held accountable for the crisis in Ukraine.

While speaking the Munich Security Conference, the Vice President issued a hardline statement, saying that, “We must hold Russia accountable and demand that they honor the Minsk Agreements, beginning …

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko spoke over phone with U.S. Secretary of Rex Tillerson. The official spokesman for the President of Ukraine, Press Secretary Svyatoslav Tsegolko, wrote about the content of the talk on his Facebook page.

As stated in the message, the telephone conversation was held while Poroshenko was attending the annual Security Conference in Munich. Topics of conversation, according to the spokesman, included combating "ongoing Russian aggression" as well as the …

According to Radio Liberty (RL), U.S. Senator John McCain has explained that the escalation of the situation in the Donbas is such that Russia is testing the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump.

"The Russians are killing Ukrainians daily. They are killing them. I believe that the situation is going to get worse, because …. this is a time of testing for the Trump administration," said McCain during a panel speech on February 17 at the annual Munich Security Conference.

Since the …

Donetsk scientist-theologian Ihor Kozlovsky has been held captive for two years by the separatist organization, the Donetsk People’s Republic. This was stated by one of Kozlovsky’s relatives, the PR-manager of the winner of Eurovision 2016, Jamala, Denis Kozlovski.

Denis posted on Facebook a message calling for help in releasing his 63-year-old uncle.

"The DPR’s representatives refuse to include Ihor Kozlovsky in the lists of prisoners for exchange, with a cryptic claim to the effect that ‘he …

The Centralnaya Coal-processing Plant Ltd., registered in the town of Antratsyt on territory not controlled by Ukraine, began exporting anthracite coal in the beginning of May, having received the appropriate license from Ukrainian authorities, LІGA.net reports citing several Ukrainian coal traders. The plant supplies coal to local companies in Slovakia. Anthracite is worth about $80 per ton at the border.

Centralnaya is owned by Vitaly Zharchinsky, Natalia Zharchinskaya and Dmyro Polubatko. …

Opera singer Maria Maksakova, who is a former deputy of the State Duma (MP), was expelled from the “United Russia” party on Thursday, February 16. The decision was unanimous, according to Secretary of the Moscow branch of United Russia Andrey Metelsky. The formal reason for exclusion was Maksakova’s possession of Russian and German dual citizenship. Metelsky claimed that "according to the party charter, Maksakova can not stay in the ranks of "United Russia as a dual citizen, and alleged that …

Eight NATO country members are ready to assign their own military forces to the creation of a new multinational brigade in Romania, which will guarantee the ground presence strength of the Black Sea region, NATO General Secretary Jens Stoltenberg said at a press conference in Brussels.

“We are strengthening our regional positions in the air and on the ground on the basis of the multinational brigade in Romania. Eight allies have pledged to provide the brigade’s personnel. And five allies are …

Advisor to the Ministrer of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Zoryan Shkiryak called for the blocking of the social network sites Vkontakte (InContact) and Odnoklassniki (Classmates) in the country’s territory. It is necessary to block these sites because they are “completely controlled and run by the Russian Secret Service,” he said on Thursday, February 16 at a briefing in Kyiv.

Shkiryak noted that the Russian Secret Service creates groups with “eloquent sounding patriotic names,” which do the …