Russia remains committed to the idea of a "Greater Europe," a single space of cooperation and security from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans and calls for an end to the "heavy weight of misunderstandings" in bilateral relations, wrote Russian President Vladimir Putin in an article dedicated to the anniversary of the beginning of World War II.

Heroes of the Red Army and workers of the rear saved Europe from enslavement, coming to Germany’s land "with a noble, great mission as a liberator," …

Russia calls on the United States not to take part in the multinational military exercises Sea Breeze-2021, said the Russian Embassy in the United States.

According to the Russian side, the Sea Breeze exercises are "large-scale and aggressive" and these exercises allegedly do not meet the real security objectives in the Black Sea region.

The Russian embassy also said that these exercises "increase the risks of unintentional incidents, as well as encourage Kyiv’s militaristic sentiment."

"All …

A Russian Su-24M fighter jet opened fire at the British destroyer HMS Defender in the Black Sea, reports Interfax, citing a statement from the Russian Defense Ministry.

The "warning shelling" was carried out to stop the British ship from violating the Russian border, the Russian military said.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the incident occurred around noon near Cape Fiolent. The destroyer entered 3 km into Russian waters and did not respond to warnings.

At 12.06 and 12.08 the …

The Russian authorities do not plan to remove the status of an "unfriendly country" from the United States, which earlier paralyzed the work of the American Embassy and made it stop issuing American visas.

There are no preconditions for removing the United States from the list of unfriendly counties now, said Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov at a briefing.

Although the summit in Geneva was praised by the Kremlin as constructive, we still have to wait for the practical results,  …

Russia intends to discuss soon with Turkey why "Ukraine is being dragged into NATO”, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, TASS reports.

"We have made our position regarding the attempts to drag Ukraine into NATO unequivocally very clear. I have no doubt that serious, responsible countries are well aware of what is at stake," he said.

Lavrov noted that this topic will be raised during the next contact with Turkish colleagues, which is planned in the near future.

The day before, …

On Monday, June 21, Ukraine and Great Britain signed a memorandum on the implementation of maritime partnership projects between the consortium of industry of the United Kingdom and the Ukrainian Navy, reported the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.

"The memorandum provides for joint design and construction of warships in Ukraine and Great Britain, reconstruction of Ukrainian shipbuilding enterprises, and construction of two bases of the Ukrainian Navy," said the Ukrainian Defense Ministry in a …

Russia has stopped supplying oil to Belarus' largest refinery, which has come under US sanctions imposed for "election fraud" and "flagrant human rights violations" by Alexander Lukashenko's regime.

Naftan refinery, which in the past processed 5.5 million barrels of Russian oil per month, is not included in the export schedule of the Russian oil industry for the third quarter, Interfax reports.

Deliveries to the second largest refinery, Mozyr Oil Refinery, will continue and will amount to 2.36 …

The European Union has decided to extend sanctions against Russia because of the annexation of Ukrainian Crimea, reported the press service of the European Council.

"The EU does not recognize the illegal annexation of Crimea and Sevastopol by the Russian Federation and continues to condemn this violation of international law, in line with the declaration by the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on behalf of the EU on 25 February 2021," said the European Council in a …