The coordinator of the Russian State Duma group on relations with the parliament of Syria Dmitry Sablin, arrived in Syria on Sunday and plans to invite Tartus Governor Safwan Abu Saad to visit annexed Sevastopol,  reports Russian Interfax news agency.

In early 2019, Saad signed an agreement on economic and cultural cooperation with Sevastopol.

In January of this year, the former Russian head of Sevastopol Dmitry Ovsyannikov visited Syria as part of the Russian delegation.

In April 2018, …

Moscow will take symmetrical measures in response to the US withdrawal from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (IMF) only when the U.S. begins deploying new missiles in Europe and Asia, said Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoygu in an interview with Russia 24 TV channel.

"We will not be there until they [the US] get to Asia and the Asia-Pacific region," he added.

At the same time, Shoygu said that Moscow is ready to continue dialogue with Washington on medium and shorter-range …

Two Estonian citizens were arrested in Finland on charges of laundering more than 100 million euros for a Russian organized criminal group, reports Yle TV channel.

The money laundering was carried out with the assistance of the Finnish HTR Talonrakennus Oy construction company. Estonians, who led this firm, received charges of laundering 140 million criminal euros. Now the detainees deny their guilt, claiming that the money was allegedly intended for the construction of roads in Karelia.

It …

European Union Assessment Mission has started its work in Ukraine. Its goal is to test the readiness of the telecommunications sector of Ukraine for integration into the EU Digital Single Market (DSM), reports the press service of Ukrainian President.

On August 17, Zelensky's adviser Mikhail Fedorov had a meeting with an Assessment Mission in the President's Office. The representatives of the General Directorate of the European Commission DG Connect also participated in the meeting.

"The …

Syrian air defense systems have detected and destroyed missiles that were launched from the direction of Lebanon towards the city of Masyaf, reports Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA). According to the agency, some of the missiles reached the ground facilities.

SANA does not name a country that was behind the attack  but reminds that the air defense of the Syrian army has repeatedly repelled the attacks of Israel and the United States.

Al-Masdar News reported earlier this month that Russian S-400 …

Russia and the Netherlands are in contact with each other about the investigation into the crash of Boeing MH-17 in eastern Ukraine in 2014, said the Dutch Ambassador to Russia, Renée Jones-Bos as cited by Interfax news agency.

According to her, the Netherlands is "in contact with the interested parties in Russia, which are also dealing with this issue." At the same time, "the parties do not share information with the outside world."

She noted that the sides are currently considering a full …

The U.S. troops in Poland are crucial to deterring Russia, Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said.

"Russia will think twice whether to resort to military actions if it sees international troops in Poland, especially American ones," he explained.

Polsat news agency reports that Czaputowicz believes that Warsaw should be ready to new "violations of international law" or "aggressive policy" on the part of Moscow.

Earlier, U.S. Ambassador to Berlin Richard Grenell said that he does not …

Russian gas giant Gazprom stated that 73.6% of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been build, reports TASS news agency. At the end of June, the company stated that 60% of the pipeline was built.

"The construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline continues. To date, 1805.6 km of the gas pipeline has been laid on the bottom of the Baltic Sea, accounting for 73.6% of its total length," the report said. 

Earlier, media reported that the launch of Nord Stream 2 could be postponed for eight months …