The Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL, Brett H. McGurk, denied the possibility that the Russian Federation would be included in the coalition, Sky News Arabia news agency reported.

"Washington doesn't trust Moscow, which supports the Syrian government, both materially and in military fields," the agency reported, quoting President Obama’s representative.

According to McGurk, Russia and the United States coordinate actions in carrying out strikes against the …

On the 24th of July, Latvian soldiers spotted another Russian warship near the border, the Bira supply ship of the Russian Armed Forces, Delfi reported.

“The Bira supply ship of the Russian Armed Forces was identified in the Latvian exclusive economic zone, 12 nautical miles from the territorial waters of the National Armed Forces of Latvia” the statement said.

According to the Ministry of Defense of Latvia, Russian military aircraft and ships approached the borders of the Republic more than 2 …

The Minister of Defense of Bulgaria, Nikolay Nenchev, stated that Bulgarian airspace has been increasingly violated by Russian aircraft—actions that can be interpreted as provocation against Bulgaria and its Air Force, Reuters reported. According to Nenchev, four cases of flights of military aircraft and six cases of flights of passenger liners through Bulgarian airspace were recorded in June.

Nenchev claims that Russian aircraft entering Bulgarian airspace switch off their transponders— …

Russian Defense Ministry blamed the U.S. anti-terrorist coalition for the air strikes on the Anglo-American base in Syria. The Russian military is not well informed about the location of the bases of the Syrian opposition forces, the speaker of the Defense Ministry, Igor Konashenkov, said on Saturday, July 23, 2016.

He said that Russia has repeatedly asked for the coordinates of the bases used by Syrian opposition forces. According to Konashenkov, a "joint action" against the extremists will …

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency called the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to allow the Russian team to participate in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro an enormous blow against clean athletes.

“Many people, including clean athletes and informants, demonstrated strong character and strength in the fight against the culture of doping and corruption in Russia. However, unfortunately, the International Olympic Committee didn’t take on the role of leader at a crucial moment for …

The head of the so-called Luhansk People's Republic (LPR), Igor Plotnitsky, has announced the decision to postpone the local elections in the occupied territories of the Luhansk region. The elections were to be held on July 24 and have been postponed to November 6, reports the Luhansk separatist websites.

The date of the local elections has been repeatedly postponed by the Luhansk and Donetsk separatists.

Recently, a representative of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), Denis …

Ukraine has noticed an upward trend in tensions in the military-controlled region of Donbas, where “weapons, ammunition and military equipment are being supplied daily”. Interfax-Ukraine reported that this was said by Ukraine’s Minister of Defense, Stepan Poltorak, in his speech at the opening of the active phase of the Ukrainian-American exercises in Odessa.

“These exercises are being held at a time when the situation in eastern Ukraine is deteriorating. However, they are an important …

The international credit rating agency Fitch has given Russia the lowest possible investment grade, a BBB-, Rosbalt reported. Fitch also gave Russia a negative growth outlook.

"In line with the updated guidance contained in Fitch's revised Sovereign Rating Criteria dated July 18, 2016, Russia's credit profile does not support a notching up... This reflects Fitch's view that neither of the two key factors cited in the criteria that support upward notching of the LTLC IDR [long-term local …