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US representative for Ukraine Volker and Pitin's Aide Surkov to meet in Dubai
US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker plans to visit Ukraine this week, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
“In order to familiarize himself with the situation in the region, on Wednesday January 24, Volker will travel to eastern Ukraine, and on January 25 he will meet with Ukrainian officials in Kyiv,” the report states.
On Friday, January 26, Volker plans to meet with Russian Presidential Advisor Vladislav Surkov. The meeting will take place in Dubai instead of Serbian Belgrade, where the …
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Erdogan: Turkey has an agreement with Russia concerning Kurdish-held Canton of Afrin
Turkey does not intend to desist from carrying out operation “Olive Branch” in the Syrian region of Afrin, said Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as reported by the local newspaper Yeni Safak. According to Erdogan, Turkey also has a certain agreement with Russia in this regard.
“Turkey does not intend to back down from the operation in Afrin, and has an agreement with Russia,” Erdogan said during a speech in Ankara.
However, he emphasized that Turkey does lay claim to Afrin territory.
“ …
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Syrian Kurds say they forced Turks to retreat from Afrin
During the course of persistent fighting, Syrian Kurds forced Turkish troops and pro-Turkish militant groups to retreat from their territory, said spokesman for Syrian Kurdistan in Moscow, Rodi Osman, RIA Novosti reports.
“Turkish forces and groups associated with them attempted to cross over to the territory of the Syrian city of Afrin, accompanied by aircraft and missile strikes. However, the Syrian Democratic Forces struck at five positions [Turkish soldiers and Syrian armed opposition]. In …
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Ukrainian politician: the war in Eastern Ukraine can end this year
The restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions can be achieved this year, said the Deputy Minister for Temporarily Occupied Territories and Internally Displaced Persons of Ukraine, Yuriy Hrymchak, during an interview with Radio Svoboda.
"I want it to happen this year. I have hope for this and I possess information that leads me to believe so," Hrymchak stressed, answering the question of when the entire Donbas will be returned to Ukraine. The Deputy …
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Ukrainian Defense Ministry: Russia changing tactics in Donbas
Russia has begun to change its tactics in the Donbas, putting an emphasis on increasing the potential of its special forces who are involved in sabotage operations, said the Press Secretary of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Dmytro Gutsulyak, reported Channel 24.
According to him, Russia’s military leaders are using the conflict in the Donbas to train Special Forces.
"The military and political leadership of Russia is growing the potential of its special operations forces, partially for the …
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Kremlin: Russia's relations with the United States in state of collapse
The current level of relations between Russia and the United States is in a state of collapse, said Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov on Russia-1 TV, Interfax’s reports.
Peskov also added that the relations between the presidents of the Russian Federation and the US are "fairly benevolent" and that there are prospects for bilateral relations at the highest level.
Peskov said, “We all know about contacts between the special services, and this shows that there’s potential and …
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Japan reports an increase in the number of Russian military aircraft at its borders
On January 21st, the Ministry of Defense of Japan reported an increase in the number of appearances of military aircraft, primarily reconnaissance, of the Russian Aerospace Forces near the border of their country, citing a report from the Joint Staff of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces for the period from April to December of last year.
"Due to the approach of Russian aircraft [fighters of the self-defense air force ] were scrambled 328 times, this is 97 times more than during the same period …
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Russia conducts exercises of naval aircraft in annexed Crimea
Russian Black Sea Fleet naval pilots, flying Su-24 front-line bombers and Su-30 multirole fighters took one day of single flights to assault ground targets at the Opuk polygon in annexed Crimea with rocket, missile and bombing attacks, reported the press service of the Southern Military District of the Russian Defense Ministry.
"A total of up to 20 warplanes and helicopters were involved in the combat training activities; about 50 flights were performed. The total flying time of the Black Sea …
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Kyiv denies statements about private meetings between Putin and Poroshenko
As Russian media reported earlier, Kremlin spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, stated that the Presidents of Russia and Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and Petro Poroshenko, were in secret contact with each other. Kyiv, however, denies that such meetings took place.
Interfax cited Ukraine's presidential administration as saying the leaders of the two countries have not held bilateral meetings since the 2015 signing of the Minsk Agreements aimed at ending the war with the Russia-backed separatists in eastern …
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Russian Foreign Minister warns of turmoil in case of failed nuclear deal with Iran
The failure of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Plan (JCPOA) on a nuclear deal with Iran, like other international agreements, will lead to turmoil in world affairs, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in an interview with the newspaper Kommersant.
“If the legal arrangements agreed upon between the leading countries fail, it may entail mishmash when everyone is for himself. It will be very sad,” the minister said.
Lavrov added that the possible withdrawal of Washington from the …