Russian President Vladimir Putin has no plans to meet with his Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko, according to Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Interfax reported.

“The President [Putin] has said that in the interest of implementing the Minsk agreements, if necessary, he would be ready for such contact [with Poroshenko]. And again, for this the necessary conditions must arise, and the necessary homework must be done,” Peskov stated.

The Kremlin’s spokesman recalled that Putin had said …

Syria’s main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee, has said that it would reject any coordinated strategy by Russia and the US to bring peace to Syria if it were to deviate from the group’s proposed plan, Reuters reported, citing the committee’s general coordinator, Riyad Hijab.

The Saudi and Western-backed High Negotiations Committee’s proposed plan includes a six-month transition period during which a new administration would be created made up of opposition figures, civil …

The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on September 6 that warships from the Russian Black Sea Fleet were brought to the test ranges for the Caucasus 2016 drills. Frigates, small-size missile ships and missile boats were involved in the strategic command-staff drills, Krym.Realii reported.

“The knowledge and practical skills of the commanders of navigation combat units, as well as navigation and maneuvering skills of battle watch officers during fulfillment of dispersal tasks in marine areas …

Germany believes a full-scale Russian offensive against Ukraine to be unlikely but it doesn’t exclude such a scenario, the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany, Andriy Melnyk, stated in an interview with Apostrophe.

“Berlin doesn’t exclude that possibility but believes this scenario to be unlikely. If, God forbid, such an invasion occurs, I’m sure that Ukraine can expect serious strengthening of sanctions against the Kremlin. In addition, the provision of defensive weapons to us would become a …

The intensification of separatist activity has been observed in eastern Ukraine again, Deutsche Welle reported. According to NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Moscow must stop providing them with political, military and financial support.

Stoltenberg expressed extreme concern about the continuing hostilities in the Donbas and criticized the actions of the Russian government. "Recently we have seen an increase in the number of attacks, mainly from the Russian-backed separatists", he said. …

The Russian Federation and Saudi Arabia intend to work together to counter a prolonged fall in oil prices. A joint working group will deal with the development of and agreement on a plan in that area, DPA (Germany Press Agency) reports.

Its establishment is envisaged in the bilateral agreement signed on September 5 at the G20 summit.

Relevant statements were made by the Minister of Energy of the Russian Federation, Alexander Novak, and the Minister of Energy, Industry and Mineral Resources of …

According to estimates by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the holding of the Caucasus 2016 military drills has a number of political purposes of internal and external nature, including an attempt to legalize the Russian status of the annexed Crimea, as stated by a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vadim Skibitskiy.

“The first purpose of these military drills is to distract citizens’ …

Last week NATO fighter aircraft, as part of the Baltic air patrol mission, scrambled five times to identify and escort Russian military aircraft flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. This was stated in a report from the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.

According to the country’s military department, last Tuesday the allied fighters identified and escorted an IL-20 plane en route from the Kaliningrad area to mainland Russia and on Wednesday flew with an An-24 plane flying from …