• EU fears Moscow's increasing influence in Serbia

    Moscow is increasing its influence in Serbia, which is a candidate for joining the European Union.

    This was stated by David McAllister, German politician and Chair of the European Parliament Foreign Affairs Committee, reports Die Welt.

    "Russia is deliberately pursuing a strategy of destabilization in Serbia. This is a cause for serious concern," he told Die Welt in an interview.

    According to McAllister, who represents the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, "Moscow is trying to exert a …

  • Media: India chooses Ukrainian An-178 aircraft over Russian Il-214

    India is no longer interested in the Russian Il-214 transport aircraft, a plane that has been in constant development for 17 years. 24.ua TV reports that the country will focus on the Ukrainian An-178 instead.

    The IL-214 was slated to replace the obsolete AN-12 aircraft currently used by the Armed Forces of India and Russia. Work on the aircraft began way back in 2000 and India joined the development in 2007.

    It was reported that the aircraft was developed by the Ilyushin Aviation Complex (IL) …

  • Lukashenko said NATO observers will be allowed to attend joint Russian-Belarusian exercises

    The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko said that the joint Belarusian-Russian exercise "Zapad-2017" will have purely defensive objectives so the representatives of NATO should be allowed to observe them. BelTA reports that he made the statement during consideration of the report on organizing joint strategic exercises between the Armed Forces of Belarus and Russia.

    "I demand cooperation from all of you so that this event on our country’s territory remains transparent. All activities …

  • Ukraine imposed sanctions on politicians from the Czech Republic and Serbia for visiting the Crimea

    The Security Service of Ukraine decided to ban for a period of five years the entry of four deputies from Serbia and a deputy from the Czech Republic who had traveled to the Crimea. Olena Gitlyanska, the press secretary of the Security Service of Ukraine posted this update on Facebook.

    "The Security Service of Ukraine checked information about the presence of politicians from European and other countries in the Crimea who arrived there at the invitation of the pro-Russian authorities ‘to …

  • Mogherini: EU would be glad to lift sanctions on Russia if Minsk agreements are implemented

    The countries of the European Union "would be happy" to lift sanctions imposed on Russia once they have reached the full implementation of the Minsk Agreements, but at the moment it cannot be done, said the head of EU diplomacy, Federica Mogherini, during her visit to the United States.

    "We would be happy to lift sanctions against Russia if the Minsk Agreements were fully implemented," she said, speaking at an event at the Carnegie Institute in Washington.

    On the topic of US-Russia relations, …