The project to create a unified Baltic Battalion with the participation of the Estonian, Latvian, and Lithuanian military will be continued under the leadership of Latvia, as agreed to by the commanders of the defense forces of the three countries at a meeting in Riga, Delfi reported.

They noted that the Baltic Battalion is the common contribution by their states to their own security and to the security of NATO.

"In addition to adopting and integrating in Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania a …

Russia has raised the issue of the return of Russian diplomatic property seized under the administration of the previous U.S. President, Barack Obama. This was purposely discussed during a telephone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson.

According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the conversation took place on April 21 at the initiative of the American side.

"Some issues on the bilateral agenda were considered. Lavrov re- …

The spokesman for the Eastern Military District, Alexander Gordeyev, stated that all movement of military equipment in the Eastern Military District is planned and related to combat training, reported RIA Novosti.

"All movements of equipment and troops are being conducted in accordance with the combat training plan. An inspection of the district’s troops during the winter training period will last from April 3 to 29. As part of this inspection the military units have been placed on high alert …

The attaché of the North Korean Embassy in Russia for defense issues, Kim Yong Jing, said that Pyongyang is ready to respond to an all-out war with an all-out war if the U.S. unleashes hostilities against North Korea.

"Today the U.S. is engaged in fomenting a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula. Should the U.S. commit a reckless provocation, the Korean armed forces will respond to the provocation and will be responding with an all-out war to an all-out war and a nuclear strike to a nuclear war, …

Ukraine connected all of its international checkpoints to the Interpol system. This was reported by Deputy Interior Minister Vadim Troyan during a briefing at the Boryspil airport on Thursday.

"Ukraine connected to the Interpol database in August 2015. For a year and a half we managed to connect all the international checkpoints to the system. During that time the State Border Guard Service checked almost 3,500 operations. The most common crimes are fraud, participation in terrorist groups and …

The State Duma of Russia has prepared a bill that proposes a "legal mechanism" for the reburial of the remains of Vladimir Lenin.

This was reported by Russia’s Interfax news agency, citing Vladimir Sysoev, one of the initiators of the bill and an MP from the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR). According to him, the document has already been submitted to the lower house.

The bill proposes amendments to the current law on funeral and burial, the deputy noted. "Our bill contains a legal …

Oleksandr Turchynov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council (NSDC) of Ukraine, considers it possible that the joint Belarusian-Russian “Zapad 2017” military exercises could be preparation for an offensive operation by Russia.

He made a statement to this effect during his speech which was broadcast by TV channel 112 Ukraine.

“A group of Russian ground forces is already deployed along the national borders of Ukraine, which includes up to 50,000 soldiers, not counting the …

The American Democratic Senator from Connecticut, Richard Blumenthal, suggests that other countries willing to host the 2018 FIFA World Cup as well as the U.S. Football Federation can help the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to find an alternative for Russia. This is stated in a letter to FIFA president Giovanni Infantino, which the politician sent on Wednesday.

In his message, Blumenthal urges FIFA leadership to reconsider the decision to hold the 2018 World Cup in …