A visit by an MEP from the Alternative for Germany right-wing Populist Party (AfD), Marcus Pretzell, in April 2016 to the Russian annexed Crimea was paid for by a Russian organization, as was reported on Saturday, January 21, by Der Spiegel, a German weekly news magazine, citing documents provided by the German politician at the request of the ethics committee of the European Parliament.

Pretzell acknowledged the veracity of this information in a conversation with reporters at a conference for …

The Ukrainian Ambassador to the United States, Valeriy Chaly, stated in his interview with Ukrainian journalists that Ukraine has three main issues in their relationship with the United States, which haven’t been changed with the new Administration, Ukrinform reported.

According to him, the first issue is with the security sector which includes countering Russia’s aggression and occupation of the Crimea. The second concerns the issue of the development of reforms in Ukraine, including ensuring …

The Security Service of Ukraine prevented the assassination of an MP from the faction People's Front, Anton Herashchenko, censor.net reported.

It was noted that two Ukrainian citizens, imprisoned in the occupied Crimea, were released on parole and agreed to attempt to assassinate the MP. One of them has faced similar charges three times already. According to the investigators, their actions were coordinated by Andrey Tikhonov, a former Ukrainian citizen, who fought on the side of the LPR, and …

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine supports the OSCE's intention to ensure round-the-clock operations of the organization’s monitors in the Donbas, as stated by the Chief of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko, who met with the head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, Ertugrul Apakan.

"We support the intention of the OSCE SMM to provide additional equipment to its observers and to deploy advanced observation posts in the occupied territories of the Donbas", the Defense Ministry' …

The delegations of Iran, Russia, and Turkey have arrived in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, for Syrian peace talks which are scheduled to begin on January 23rd, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Anuar Zhainakov, told TASS.

"By now, the delegations of Russia, Turkey and Iran have arrived," Zhainakov said.

The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, as well as members of the Syrian opposition’s delegation have also arrived.

The Syrian government delegation is expected to …

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) has started a formal investigation into the Russian Biathlon Union in connection with the new allegations concerning mass doping usage in Russian sports, which are provided in the second part of a report written by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s expert Richard McLaren, Deutsche Welle reported.

The appropriate decree was issued on Saturday, January 21st, following the IBU Executive Board meeting in Rasen-Antholz in the north of Italy.

During the meeting, …

The first units of US high-precision air-to-surface JASSM Extended Range cruise missiles arrived at the Tactical Air Base Krzesiny in Poland, as reported by Radio Poland.

"The Ministry of National Defense of the country signed an agreement for the purchase of modern American JASSM and JASSM-ER missiles, which can perform maneuvers at a distance of up to 1,000 kilometers and hit targets on the ground. F-16 fighters, located at bases in Poznań and Łask, not far away from Łódź, will be armed with …

The first loan tranche from Switzerland will be provided to Ukraine in the near future, as reported on the Swiss government’s website.

"The first loan tranche of $100 million will be directed to the National Bank of Ukraine in the coming weeks," the statement says.

After consultations with the Swiss National Bank, the Swiss Federal Council decided in February 2015 that the country would participate "in the international coordination of financial support to Ukraine," the report says.

In the …