The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) rejected almost all applications from Russian track and field athletes to participate in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. Of the 136 athletes, only jumper Darya Klishina received an approval. She will compete as an independent athlete. This was reported by R-Sport.

The All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) believed the criteria used by IAAF to decline the athletes’ applications were unfair.

“The main reason for refusal to the …

At a joint Russian-NATO meeting, Moscow will demand a detailed explanations from NATO concerning the Alliance's expansion

The statement was made by the press representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Maria Zakharova,  commenting on the NATO summit in Warsaw.

“ During the NATO-Russia meeting which is scheduled to take place on July 13, we are expecting detailed explanations from the representative of the Alliance about strengthening of NATO which is taking place in all …

The number of civilian victims in the Donbas has reached its highest point since August 2015, as stated in the latest report by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs which was made public on Friday, 8 July. According to the UN, in June, clashes continued in the conflict zone in eastern Ukraine.  Just this month 12 people were killed and another 57 were injured in the Donbas.

As noted in the report, most victims were injured by artillery shells, as attacks were carried out …

According to Ukraine’s presidential press service, during a meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi, Italy promised to maintain sanctions against Russia if Moscow does not implement the Minsk Agreements. Poroshenko and Renzi agreed that it is important now to remain united in supporting Ukraine.

The Regional Council of Lombardy, a province in northern Italy, has passed a resolution calling for lifting the anti-Russian sanctions and …

In an interview with Interfax, former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev shared concerns that NATO made a step towards preparations for war, and called on Russia to immediately resume the dialogue with the Alliance that was lost.

Commenting on the results of the NATO summit in Warsaw on Saturday, July 9, Gorbachev said that "NATO has begun preparations for the escalation of the Cold War into the hot one." He believes that though the Alliance "only talks about defense” it is in reality “preparing …

On Saturday, July 9, the Security Service of Ukraine (SSU) reported the discovery of a mechanism that signs petitions for the President of Ukraine. The SSU claims that Russian special services are behind these operations. In particular, the Security Service employees’ suspicions were raised by a petition about the introduction of “a special developmental area” in the territory of the Kharkiv region, filed by one of the members of the former Communist Party of Ukraine. As of May 10, 2016, the …

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated at a joint press conference with Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw that the NATO countries have approved a new comprehensive assistance package for Ukraine to reform the defense sector,  Evropeyskaya Pravda reported.

"The Trust Funds we set up at our last Summit are already assisting Ukraine in areas such as cyber-defense, logistics and the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers," the Secretary General noted.

Stoltenberg added that Ukraine has already …

Speaking at the NATO Summit in Warsaw on Saturday, US President Barack Obama said that relations with Moscow cannot normalize until Russia implements the Minsk agreements, Radio Svoboda reported.

“Our 28 nations [NATO] are united in our view that there can be no business as usual with Russia until it fully implements its Minsk obligations,” Obama said.

At his first NATO summit in 2009, Obama stressed that one of the Alliance’s main goals should the pursuit of “a constructive relationship with …