The parties of the humanitarian subgroup of the Trilateral Contact Group failed to agree on an exchange of prisoners during negotiations in Minsk that took place on the 13th of July. According to the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Iryna Herashchenko, the representatives of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic and Luhansk People's Republic continue to ignore Ukraine's initiatives.

“We have received no answers to our proposal to transfer eight saboteurs, who were detained near …

The Secretary of National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Turchynov, believes that the Russian military is preparing for offensive actions, as demonstrated by intensive supplying of weapons and ammunition, and also the establishment of operational reserves.

The current increase in the intensity of attacks by Russian troops in the Donbas demonstrates that they are preparing for offensive actions, according to Turchynov, who visited the defense line of the Ukrainian Armed …

The United States could increase the volume of its military equipment deployed in Europe in the framework of its assistance program for the European Allies. This was announced on Wednesday, July 13 by the head of global planning in the US Army, TOS Taipa, RIA Novosti reported.

“If the program continues, then [during the next few years], we could fulfill additional requirements on ensuring Europe's defense capabilities,” he said, noting that it could be the deployment of the engineering …

Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius claims that the meeting between NATO and Russian diplomats was not fruitful, Delfi reported.  

After a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council on Wednesday in Brussels, Linkevičius said that the current dialogue with Russia is certainly better than having no communication at all, but the two sides have not been able to come to a consensus on the most important issues, including the conflict in Ukraine.

"Of course, it is better to talk than not to talk, …

Fighter jets of the NATO Air Defense forces were scrambled to intercept Russian warplanes near the Latvian border.

The incident was reported by the National Armed Forces of Latvia on Twitter.

“On July 13,  NATO fighter jets on a patrol mission over Baltics detected and escorted 2 Russian SU-27 fighter jets near the Latvian border,”  the statement read.

Russian warships and military aircraft have been increasingly active near the air and sea borders of the Baltic States since the beginning of …

Russia's propagandists are taking efforts to spread anti-NATO, anti-EU sentiments across the Western Balkans, aimed at seizing influence in the region's countries, according to Montenegro's Prime Minister, Milo Đukanović. He is convinced that up to 30 percent of people in the region oppose Western integration.

According to him, people in the lowest income brackets in a part of Europe where average GDP per capita is only €6,000 do not see the long term benefits of pro-EU economic reforms and …

In July, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased the forecast of Ukraine’s crops and grain harvest for the year 2016-2017. According to a report on the USDA website, the grain harvest will be up to 61.225 million tons, an increase of 2.4%. Grain exports will be up to 33.63 million tons, an increase of 3%.

The forecast of the corn crop was unchanged at the level of 26 million tons. The barley harvest forecast was increased from 8.65 million tons to 9.1 million tons. …

Canadian company Esterline CMC Electronics will supply modern avionics for AN-124 and AN-148/158/178 aircraft. The Antonov State Company management that is a part of state concern Ukroboronprom signed two corresponding contracts with representatives from the Canadian company. This happened at the Farnborough Air Show-2016 in the United Kingdom.According to the terms of the first contract, Esterline CMC Electronics will supply a CMA-9000 (FMS) flight control system, GPS CMA-5024 sensors and a …