The foreign ministers of Russia, Turkey and Iran, Sergey Lavrov, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu and Mohammad Javad Zarif respectively, discussed the situation in Syria against the backdrop of eastern Aleppo being occupied by government troops and the evacuation of the civilian population out of the city.

The Ministers previously agreed to hold a meeting to discuss the Syrian conflict, as evidenced by a press release issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on December 17.

The document does not …

At the EU summit in Brussels, Italy blocked the attempt to extend sanctions against Russia for one year. Rome was also against the extension of sanctions for alleged crimes committed by Russia in Syria.

This was confirmed by the participants of the summit.

"We had a discussion, which, fortunately, ended without considering the option that would be, in my opinion, erroneous. That is to respond to the situation in Syria and Aleppo with the EU sanctions against Russia", the Prime Minister of …

There is no doubt that there will be no armed attack against Latvia, but there are serious doubts regarding the state’s ability to resist hybrid threats, as was stated at a session of the Latvian Saeima Commission on European Affairs, by Foreign Minister, Edgars Rinkēvičs, Delfi reports.

He has no doubts that there will be no World War and no armed attacks against Latvia, however, as for hybrid threats, the first line of defense requires the strengthening of Latvia.

Rinkēvičs stressed that …

A RQ-4A Global Hawk Strategic U.S. Air Force drone made an almost 10-hour reconnaissance flight along the line dividing the sides in the Donbas on Friday, as was reported by Interfax-Ukraine citing a source in western information portals that monitor the movement of military aircraft.

According to them, the American long-range drone, before leaving Ukraine in the west to its border with Romania, had shuttled north to south along the demarcation line for hours without crossing it.

During its …

A Russian serviceman was killed in Syria on the first day of the Russian Aerospace Forces’ mission in Syria, which officially started on 30 September 2015, Radio Svoboda reports.

The date of 29-year-old Sergeant Edward Sokurov’s death was published on Friday on the official website of the Administration of Nalchik City, when he was awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor. This note was later removed, but it was after RIA Novosti cited it.

The text stated that Sokurov was an intelligence agent in …

Ukraine's Naftogaz believes that Russian Gazprom is preparing a new gas crisis in January and February 2017, as stated by the Ukrainian company's press-service.

Earlier, Ukraine imposed a fine of 172 billion hryvnia on Gazprom. In turn, Miscow said that Kyiv may collect the fine by withdrawing gas. By doing so, the risk of disrupting the gas transit to the EU through Ukrainian territory is possible, the Russian company claims.

"Naftogaz of Ukraine considers the statements of Gazprom about the …

During two days of talks, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzō Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin failed to settle the long territorial dispute over the Kuril Islands, which were ceded to the Soviet Union after World War II. The parties, however, agreed to continue the dialogue and carry out joint economic activities on the disputed islands, Japanese media reported on Friday, December 16th, following the talks.

During the talks, Putin and Abe negotiated easing travel restrictions between the …

Kyiv is preparing to expand the list of Russian citizens and officials who are subject to sanctions for their role in the incarceration of Ukrainian political prisoners, as stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin, RIA Novosti reported.

"We will try to adapt this list to the extent that we receive clear information about who is involved in [incarcerating Ukrainian] political prisoners. To put the person on the sanctions list, we need real proof,” Klimkin stated.

The Foreign Minister …