• Ukrainian President Zelensky will make his first foreign visit to Brussels

    President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky will make his first foreign visit to Brussels on June 4-5. The President of Ukraine will meet with the leadership of the European Union and NATO; he will meet with EU President Donald Tusk and President of European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker, reports Interfax-Ukraine. Also, a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg is planned.

    In turn, the Executive Director of Europe and Central Asia in the European External Action Service Thomas Mayr- …

  • Russia summons Spanish ambassador over ‘old enemy’ remark

    Spanish Ambassador to Moscow Fernando Valderrama has been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry over a comment made by acting Spanish Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.

    In an interview with El Periodico, Borrell mentioned Russia only once, while talking about changes in the world. “A lot has changed. Our ally (the US) is turning its back on us. Our old enemy, Russia, is once again asserting itself and posing a threat, and China is becoming a rival,” he said, adding that in such a situation …

  • President Zelensky reissues Ukrainian citizenship to Saakashvili

    President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reissued a Ukrainian citizenship to ex-President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, who in 2015-16 served as governor of the Odessa region. 

    The decree, signed by Zelensky and published on the president’s website, partially repeals the July 2017 decree of his predecessor Petro Poroshenko which revoked Saakashvili’s citizenship.

    Zelensky signed the decree eight days after his inauguration and six days after Saakashvili’s lawyer Ruslan Chernolutsky filed an …

  • Dirty oil scandal to cost Russia $5 billion at least

    The crisis surrounding the Druzhba oil pipeline, which was contaminated with organochlorine compounds at the end of April, is turning out to be more serious than even the most pessimistic predictions. The resumption of oil transit to Poland and Germany, initially promised within a week, and later by 21 May, has once again been delayed.

    The new date is 9 or 10 July, said a source familiar with the outcome of the negotiations between the Russian oil transport company Transneft and the Polish …

  • Russia denies possibility of supplying ammunition to the US

    Russian defense concern Corporation Rostec, commenting on the reports about the Pentagon's intention to buy ammunition for Russian weapons, said that the supply of Russian ammunition for the needs of the United States is currently impossible. The ammunition of the Russian production can be delivered to the United States only in the case of lifting the sanctions, reports Interfax with reference to Rostec.

    Earlier, the publication Defence Blog reported that the Pentagon unit plans to purchase …

  • Ukraine develops carrier rocket without Russian components to replace Zenit

    Ukraine has developed its own carrier rocket, the Mayak-3.9S, that outstrips the Zenit, which requires Russian components, announced Oleksandr Dehtyarev, CEO of the Yuzhnoye Design Office, during a press conference.

    “The Yuzhnoye Design Office has developed the Mayak 3.9S rocket, which quite seriously outstrips the Zenit in its characteristics,” Dehtyarev said. He specified that the rocket was designed to be launched from Baikonur or Sea Launch, as well as from a possible new launch site.

    To …

  • Russian National Guard soldiers banned from traveling to 237 countries

    Members of the Novosibirsk Russian National Guard do not have the right to take vacations to Israel or 236 other countries, RBC Novosibirsk reports, citing a publication by the “Ombudsmen Police”.

    The Ombudsmen Police claims to be in possession of a copy of an order signed by police colonel Rovshan Kurbanov, head of the Directorate for Extra-Departmental Safety of Troops of the Russian National Guard in the Novosibirsk Province.

    The order lists the countries and regions that are considered …

  • Russian experts will arrive in Turkey to install the S-400 air defense systems

     On Monday, during broadcast on Haberturk TV, Turkish Minister of Defense Hulusi Akar said that Russian technical personnel will be arriving to the country to install the S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems.

    “Purchase of the S-400 is a done deal. Case closed. Everyone needs to understand that. Our president has said this multiple times. Technical personnel will be arriving from Russia to install the S-400,” Akar said, without specifying the exact time the Russian specialists planned to arrive. …

  • Ukrainian Supreme Court dismisses lawsuit against dissolution of parliament

    The Supreme Court of Ukraine has refused to consider a lawsuit that would seek to invalidate President Volodymyr Zelensky’s decree to dissolve Ukraine’s parliament, the Verkhovna Rada, and hold snap parliamentary elections, the court posted on Facebook.

    The unnamed plaintiff claimed that the dissolution of the Rada was a violation of his rights as a voter who voted in the 2014 parliamentary elections. He also considered Zelensky’s decree an infringement of his right to nominate himself as a …

  • NATO Air Defense Forces exercises to be held in Poland in June

    NATO troops will hold a military exercise in Poland called "Tobruq Legacy – 19" from June 3 to 19. Air defense activities will be practiced during the maneuvers, reports Defence24.pl news portal.

    About 4,800 troops from Poland, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Slovakia, the USA, the Czech Republic, and the UK will attend the exercise, and 1,200 units of equipment will be involved. It is expected that during the maneuvers Patriot missile systems will be used, as well as several short-range …