The Syrian government has recognized the Crimea as part of Russian territory, as stated by the Speaker of the Syrian Parliament, Hadiyeh al-Abbas, in an interview with Sputnik.

“We recognize that the Crimea is an integral part of Russia,” al-Abbas said, stressing that relations between Damascus and Moscow continue to be strengthened in all areas, especially political, economic, and social ties.

According to al-Abbas, the Crimea was part of the Soviet Union, and "because of the events that …

The Japanese Foreign Ministry denied information that Tokyo intended to propose that Moscow and Tokyo manage the four Islands of Kuril Ridge together. "We deny the report of the newspaper Nikkei that Japan and Russia are discussing the joint management of the northern territories,” stated the representative of Japanese Foreign Minister Yasuhisa Kawamura, Reuters reported on Monday, October 17th.

"A fundamental position of Japan is that Japan will sign a peace agreement with Russia on the issue …

According to Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rõivas, Russia’s actions in Europe can be regarded as acts of war, Postimees reported.

"Our eastern neighbor [Russia] uses both conventional and hybrid methods [of war]… [through] interventions via cyber-attacks in presidential elections, the financing of extremist parties in Europe … spreading propaganda and lies,” Rõivas stated.

The Estonian Prime Minister compared Russia to a schoolyard bully who is looking for conflicts wherever they can be found. …

The Vilnius city district court hearing the case of events on 13 January 1991 decided to examine the former Soviet statesman Mikhail Gorbachev. It was confirmed by the Baltic News Service (BNS) participating in the court hearings and Robertas Povilaitis, the son of Apolinaras Povilaitis who was one of the casualties in the bloody January incident. In 1991, in Vilnius, 14 civilians were killed near the Press House, Radio and Television Committee building and the TV Tower.

Povilaitis earlier …

One of the commanders of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Mikhail Tolstykh, known by the call sign ‘Givi,’ vowed to level the cities of Ukraine to the ground in retaliation for the death of his comrade, Arsen Pavlov (call sign ‘Motorola’). He stated this in an interview with Russian NewsFront portal.

“Whoever did this, they will pay. The whole of Ukraine will pay. Each city besides Donetsk People’s Republic, that we will continue to capture, I will level to the ground for this …

On Monday, October 17, 2016, the USS Mount Whitney command ship of the US Navy entered the Romanian port of Constanta. According to Pentagon the pupose of the visit was to "strengthen the NATO cooperation in the Black Sea".

"Strengthening alliances through port visits such as this reinforces the shared commitment to promote safety and stability within the region, while seeking opportunities to enhance interoperability with NATO allies and partners.," the statement of the U.S. Department of …

At the EU Council meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the EU member countries the EU representatives have reached the conclusion that Syrian troops and the Russian Aerospace Forces are responsible for targeted airstrikes on schools, hospitals and other social facilities in Aleppo.

The EU condemned these actions in the Syrian city in a joint statement issued at the meeting.

The statement said that hospitals and schools have become the targets of airstrikes. The EU went on to say …

The possibility of U.S. sanctions against Russia due to the situation in Syria will not go without a response. The response may be symmetrical, the Deputy Foreign Minister of the Russian Federation, Sergei Ryabkov, told reporters. "Any hostile actions against Russia will not be left without a response," Ryabkov said, as quoted by Interfax.

Ryabkov also said that "at different stages of the current sanctions policy (against Russia) Moscow has repeatedly warned that they will be answered though …