There is a fairly high probability that Russia will strike Ukraine due to recent events in Syria, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Vasyl Bodnar told Ukrinform news agency.

"Nobody can say with absolute certainty what Russia’s reactions will be to the actions of the Western allies in Syria since no one knows what is in Mr. Putin's head. But we must prepare for the worst. Last week [April 13], my Slovak colleague [Slovakian Foreign Ministry Secretary Lukáš Parízek] and I were in the …

In an interview with the BBC television channel, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that Russia was ready to consider all necessary steps to strengthen the security of Syria after the Western coalition strike.  

"President Putin addressed this issue [regarding the S-300 delivery]. And he clearly reminded [us] that few years ago, at the request of our partners, we decided not to supply the S-300 to Syria," Lavrov said. Russia now intends to reconsider the option of delivering the S-300 …

The EU may extend the duration of the economic sanctions against Russia by one year instead of six months, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius announced upon arriving at the EU Council session in Luxembourg, TASS reports.“Additional sanctions or at least an extension of the sanctions by 12 months instead of six could become a reality,” he said.

On December 21, 2017, the Council of the EU prolonged the sanctions against Russia by six months, moving the expiry date to July 31, 2018. …

The Syrian anti-missile defense forces deflected a missile attack aimed at the Shayrat military base in the Homs province, the Syrian state media reported on Tuesday, April 17. The missiles were reportedly shot down by the Syrian anti-missile defense systems. The reports did not specify the number of missiles shot down, or who could have fired them.

Later the Lebanese media reported another interception, citing Hezbollah. The Dumayr airbase on the outskirts of Damascus was the target of the …

The share price of Russian oligarch Oleg Deripaska’s company UC Rusal dropped to a historic low on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange due to the US’s promises to announce new anti-Russian sanctions.

On Monday, the company’s share price dropped almost 30% compared to the previous close. At 10:51 Moscow time, the unit price was 1.43 Hong Kong dollars (0.18 USD). Rusal’s previous all-time low was 2.09 Hong Kong dollars on June 12, 2016.The day before, the US Treasury Department announced new sanctions …

The German government believes a recent cyber-attack on the country’s Foreign Affairs Ministry came from Russia, said Heiko Maas, Germany’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, during an interview with the ZDF broadcasting company.

Maas listed what he considered to be Moscow’s “problematic” actions, which included insufficient progress in maintaining ceasefire in the east of Ukraine, an attack using poison in the UK, Moscow’s support of the Syrian government, Russian attempts to influence elections in …

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stated in a Twitter post that the Ukrainian Army has developed into one of the most effective force in Europe.

“Over the last four years we did not just revive the Army—we’ve turned around the UAF [the Ukrainian Armed Forces], transforming it into one of the most effective armies in Europe,” Poroshenko’s statement reads. The President noted this was confirmed by the fact that Ukrainian paratroopers recently took part in a special course for SWAT …

German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed concern over the growing "alienation" between Russia and the West and called for the restoration of diplomatic efforts aimed at repairing damaged ties.

On April 15, in an interview with Bild am Sonntag newspaper, Steinmeier conceded that the poisoning of former Russian double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain was "a very serious incident" but he added that "we should be at least as worried about the galloping alienation between …