The Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sergey Lavrov, believes that the leaders of the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have gained legitimacy by signing the Minsk Agreements, Interfax reported. “The recognition of the leaders of the self-proclaimed Republics has been achieved by their signing of the Minsk Agreements, which in turn were approved by consensus in the resolution of the U.N. Security Council,” Lavrov said.

The Minister also noted that the recent decree on …

The present U.S. administration is still deliberating the possibility of strengthening cooperation with Russia, however it considers it unacceptable to do so at the expense of satisfying Russia’s geopolitical interests and aggression against other countries, especially Ukraine, as stated on Tuesday at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Conflicts in Europe by Nikki Haley, the U.S. permanent representative to the organization.

"The United States thinks it's possible to have a better …

On the 20th of February, participants in the blockade of trade with the territories of the Donbas not controlled by Ukraine accepted Prime Minister Volodymyr Groysman’s invitation and came to the negotiation table in the hope of resolving the conflict caused by the blockade.

The conflict between the authorities of Ukraine and war veterans in Eastern Ukraine arose after war veterans blocked several railway crossings at the end of January 2017. They are demanding the release of Ukrainian …

OSCE Secretary General Lamberto Zannier said that the conflict in eastern Ukraine remains the main source of instability and tension in Europe.

"The crisis in Ukraine and around it continues to be a major source of tension and instability in Europe, unfortunately. It has meant a return of geopolitics to the agenda of the OSCE, and it is a challenge to our model of cooperation," he said on Tuesday during an open Cabinet-level debate on the topic of "Maintaining international Peace and Security: …

President Petro Poroshenko stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to recognize documents issued to citizens by the so-called DPR (Donetsk People's Republic) and LPR (Luhansk People's Republic) effectively means that Russia has rejected the Minsk Protocol.

“We are observing continuous violations of the Minsk agreements. We see not only violations of the ceasefire, but the shameless decision to recognize bogus documents from phony republics. From the point of view of …

Ukraine has taken the top spot as the largest consumer of Russian beer and meat, surpassing even Kazakhstan, data from the Russian Federal Customs Service (FCS) indicated, as reported by Vedomosti.

According the FCS data, in 2016 Ukraine purchased 47,890 tons of Russian meat, while in 2013-2014 Ukraine purchased almost no meat or meat products from Russia.

Additionally, Russian beer supplies to Ukraine increased in 2016 by 150% year on year to 38.46 million deciliters.

In the previous year, …

Russia became the largest purchaser of Ukrainian military goods, according to the findings of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

According to SIPRI’s data, last year Ukraine exported $169 million worth of military goods to Russia. Shipments to Russia grew by 72% during the year.

Among Ukraine’s top buyers were China and also Thailand – the only buyer of modern “Oplot” tanks, listed among the best tanks in the world.

Altogether, shipments to Russia grew by 72% for …

Russia will begin to develop a fifth generation fighter together with the United Arab Emirates, RIA Novosti reported, citing Rostec head Sergey Chemezov.

"Work will begin, probably, in the next year. It’s a complex project, I think the plane will be created in seven or eight years, not earlier," he said.

Chemezov added that the project is likely to be created on the basis of the Russian MiG-29.

Russia's plans to create a fifth-generation MiG fighter was first reported at the end of January.