Syrian authorities appealed to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and to the UN Security Council with a complaint about the actions of Turkey, which is conducting a military operation in the area of Afrin in Syria. In letters to the international organization, Damascus referred to Ankara’s actions as “occupation” and “armed aggression,” the Syrian state news agency SANA reported.

“The presence of any foreign military forces in the country’s territory without its consent is aggression and …

The Russian security services in the annexed Crimea detained 248 Crimean Tatars in the last year, 99 were fined, and another 42 were arrested, said Eskender Bariev, a member of the Crimean Tatar Mejlis, at a press conference on January 31st, according to Ukrainian News.

Bariev noted that the representatives of the indigenous population of the Crimea are subjected to massive pressure from the law enforcement.

Bariev said, "For 2017, our compatriots were fined more than 5 million rubles ($90,000 …

Atlases containing controversial maps that showed “Russian Crimea” were approved for distribution in accordance with the internal documents of the Czech Ministry of Education in the summer of 2017. Later, the Ambassador of Ukraine protested the incorrect marking of the peninsula.

The Ministry of Education of the Czech Republic stated that the school atlas in which the Crimea was marked as Russian territory is now out of circulation in the country.

"The Ministry of Education studied the …

Going forward, the Russian Ministry of Defense and Special Services will conduct purchases through classified means, the newspaper Kommersant, citing clarifying comments by the Russian Ministry of Finance, Federal Treasury and Federal Antimonopoly Service.

According to these clarifications, the Federal Security Service (FSB), Foreign Intelligence Service (FIS), and Ministry of Defense, as well as all organizations subordinate to these structures, may only conduct procurement that is intended …

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine requested that President Petro Poroshenko dismiss the head of the Ukroboronprom State Enterprise, Roman Romanov, and expects a new candidate to be nominated by the recently renewed supervisory board of the state enterprise.

"I recently said that I will not work with the head of Ukroboronprom, Romanov. I waited so that perhaps he would decide for himself and resign, but this did not happen. Today I propose that we make the decision and file a petition …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he expects to conclude major trade and investment contracts with French businessmen at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) in 2018, according to a transcript from a meeting published on the Kremlin website.

"We expect that new major trade and investment contracts will be concluded at the upcoming International Economic Forum in St. Petersburg in May," the Russian President said at a meeting with members of the Franco-Russian Chamber of …

The National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) released a report on the country’s 2017 payment balance, noting that for the third year in a row, the country has managed to finish the year with a surplus: USD 2.6 billion compared to USD 1.3 billion from the year before. At the same time, the 2017 current account shows a deficit of USD 3.8 billion as against USD 3.5 billion year over year. The data was published on the Regulator’s website.

According to the report, import total volume grew by 21% to USD 49 …

The Moldovan Government supports the introduction of a Constitutional article on the country’s European aspirations, as stated in a message on the website of the Government of Moldova.

"Today the Cabinet of Ministers expressed a favorable opinion on the legislative initiative to amend the Constitution to highlight the country's European integration aspirations and promote the Republic of Moldova’s orientation towards the European democratic value space," the report said.

The Ministers …