• US Ambassador in Moscow: NATO's actions are a response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine

    The United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation, John Tefft, stated that Russia has committed acts of aggression against Ukraine and all of NATO’s follow-up actions have been in response to that.

    On 27 June in an interview with Radio Svoboda, Tefft indicated that NATO is a defensive alliance. “It’s not an offensive organization,” he noted.

    According to him, NATO will remain the most effective defensive alliance.

    “The response that NATO has prepared for the summit...is a direct …

  • British Ambassador in Kiev: Brexit will not change the UK's support for Ukraine

    Britain’s exit from the European Union will not affect its support of, and assistance to, Ukraine.

    “What does a referendum in the UK mean for our policy with regard to Ukraine?” this was asked on the blog of the British Ambassador to the Ukraine, Judith Gough.

    According to her, the UK will continue to stand side-by-side with Ukraine.

    “The UK will continue to assist Ukraine in the fight against corruption, in particular by supporting the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Anti- …

  • Hug: Minsk agreements are violated 8000 times each week

    The situation in eastern Ukraine has escalated since the beginning of the year with the Minsk Agreements being violated nearly 8,000 times in recent weeks.

    Inosmi.ru reported that this was stated by the Deputy Head of the Special OSCE monitoring mission in Donbas, Alexander Hug, during an interview with the Bild newspaper.

    “We started this year with a small number of violations of the ceasefire agreement. However, we have seen a steady increase in that number since that time. The largest …

  • Turkish PM: We will not pay Russia for the downed Su-24 bomber

    Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yıldırım has said that Turkey will not pay Russia for the Su-24 bomber that was shot down over the Turkish-Syrian border in November of last year, Rosbalt reported.

    According to Yıldırım, Ankara has only expressed its regret over the incident and has not agreed to pay compensation.

    On Monday, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan apologized to Russian President Vladimir Putin for the downing of the frontline bomber. …

  • Ankara: Turkey and Russia have agreed on the need to improve relations

    Turkey has confirmed that its President, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, has sent a letter to his Russian counterpart, President Vladimir Putin.

    “In the letter, he stated that he wanted to inform the family of the deceased Russian pilot that he shares their pain and that he expresses his condolences. Perhaps they will forgive us,” this was said on the 27th of June by Erdoğan’s representative, Ibrahim Kalin, who was quoted by Turkish media.

    “Turkey and Russia have agreed on the need to take immediate …

  • Lithuanian MoD: NATO fighters escorted Russian aircraft over the Baltic five times last week

    NATO jets escorted Russian military aircraft over the Baltic Sea on five occasions last week, BaltNews reported with reference to the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.

    On June 23rd, NATO fighters escorted a Russian IL-20 cargo plane flying in international airspace from the Kaliningrad exclave. The aircraft was following its flight plan, but its transponder was turned off. A Russian Tu-134 cargo plane was also intercepted on Thursday for the same reason.

    On the same day, a Russian Su-27 fighter …

  • Verkhovna Rada Chairman: Bill on decentralization must be approved, but only after removing 'special status' for the Donbas

    The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Andriy Parubiy, expressed confidence that the draft bill on decentralization will be approved, but without the clause regarding the "special status" of the Donbas region.

    As 112 Ukraine reports, the parliament speaker says that decentralization is one of the key reforms in Ukraine, receiving support both from the Parliament and the public, but it should not be approved together with the paragraph about the specifics of local self-government in the breakaway …

  • Italian Parliament rejects resolution which called for lifting sanctions on Russia

    On Monday, June 27, the Chamber of the Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) of  the Italian Parliament rejected a resolution to lift sanctions against the Russian Federation. The proposal which called on the Italian government to lift the sanctions against Russia was submitted by the opposition parties , Five Start Movement (Movimento 5 Stelle) and the North League (Lega Nord), as reported by the Russian RIA Novosti news agency.

    The Italian deputies rejected the resolution that called on the …

  • Representatives of the Verkhovna Rada and the Polish Sejm anticipate inter-regional cooperation

    The Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Andriy Parubiy, and the Speaker of the Polish Sejm, Marek Kuchciński, foresee serious prospects of increasing cooperation between countries of the Carpathian region when it comes to economics, transit and security issues.

    “We have discussed the issue of inter-regional cooperation. We have developed a shared understanding where we see great prospects of increasing inter-regional cooperation,” Parubiy stated after bilateral meeting with Kuchciński during a …

  • Poland wants to establish Assembly including the Visegrad Four, Romania and Ukraine

    The Marshall of the Sejm of Poland, Marek Kuchciński, said in Truskavets that at the Economic Forum in Krynica-Zdrój (Poland), Polish representatives plan to propose the establishment of an Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Visegrad Four countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary) and two neighboring countries of the Carpathian region - Romania and Ukraine,” as reported by Interfax-Ukraine.

    "We want to offer our colleagues from the Czech Republic and Hungary to establish a joint …