After the elections in France next year, relations with Kyiv may deteriorate. The Ambassador of Ukraine to France, Oleh Shamshur, expressed this opinion in an interview with Europeyska Pravda.

According to him, potential successors to the current president Hollande – Le Pen and Sarkozy – have not yet spoken about their vision for the Normandy group (Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany); however, their position regarding the restoration of relations with Russia does not favor Ukraine.

"2017 …

Russian mercenaries from the Wagner private military company who fought in Syria earned between RUB 5.1 billion ($78.7 million)and RUB 10.3 billion ($159 million, RBC wrote, referencing their own calculations. According to the statement, up to 2,500 mercenaries from the private military company are in Syria.The officer from the Ministry of Defense reported that the salaries of each mercenary in Syria rarely exceeded RUB 300,000 ($4,630). In Russia, fighters got paid at least RUB 8,000 ($123). …

A jury in the US city of Seattle found Russian citizen Roman Seleznev, the son of Valery Seleznev, a State Duma deputy from the Liberal Democratic Party, guilty of cyber fraud. He was accused of stealing more than a million credit card numbers and reselling them on the black market, the Seattle Times wrote on Thursday, August 25.

The jury found Seleznev guilty of 38 of the 40 charges, including fraud using electronic means of communication, bank fraud, hacking of computer systems and theft of …

Following talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry in Geneva, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow and Washington are engaged in two-way communication on a regular basis in an attempt to pursue a settlement in eastern Ukraine, RBC-Ukraine reported.

"We have an open two-way channel, which is operated fairly regularly. We believe that this channel can actually help the efforts that are being made in the Normandy format,” Lavrov stated.

The Russian Foreign Minister also …

Russia is preparing for a deployment of military aircraft to operational airfields for surprise-combat readiness inspections of the military districts near the Ukrainian border, a statement on the Russian Defense Ministry website reads.

“Crews of fighter, bombardment and army aircraft at the Russian Aerospace Forces Airbases of the southern, western and central military districts are preparing for deployment to the operational airfields for a surprise-combat readiness check,” the office noted. …

In an article written for Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier stated that he wanted to avoid a new arms race with Russia to ensure peace in Europe. The Foreign Minister suggested that Russia take the lead on disarmament in an attempt to restore trust between Moscow and the West, Radio Polsha reported.

According to Steinmeier, by annexing the Crimea, Russia “violated international law and called into question the foundations of peace in Europe.” He …

Since the war began in the Donbas, a total of 26 Ukrainian soldiers have been awarded the title Hero of Ukraine, Ukrinform reported, citing the Chief of Communications and Media Management of the Ministry of Defense, Oksana Gavrilyuk.

"More than 11 thousand soldiers are marked with state awards. Higher awards, the title of Hero of Ukraine, have been awarded to 26 soldiers,” Gavrilyuk said at a press conference in Kiev.

There have been a total of 175,000 Ukrainian soldiers and servicemen who …

Yuriy Vitrenko, the Director of Business Development at Naftogaz of Ukraine, reported on Facebook that the company is buying gas from the European Union at a lower price than from Russian gas giant Gazprom.

“Now the price of European gas is already significantly lower than the $185 per thousand cubic meters charged by Gazprom,” he noted.

The press-service of Naftogaz, a national joint-stock company of Ukraine, reported that the contract price announced by Gazprom for Ukraine for the third …