Warsaw’s desire to deploy additional batteries of Patriot anti-air defense systems is related to Russia’s plan to rearm the missile brigade in the Kaliningrad province, Polish Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told Kommersant in an interview.

“Here’s your answer: Russian missiles have already been deployed there, and until now we have had no anti-air defense systems to defend ourselves in the event of a possible attack. We are not taking the first steps, we are reacting to what we see. …

The Crimean Human Rights Group considers the case against Vododymyr Balukh to be fabricated, and has demanded that FSB officers and all those involved in the case to be included in sanctions lists.

A representative of the organization, Volodymyr Chekrygin, stated this during an interview with Radio Liberty.

"And now, I would like to note that in the case of Volodymyr Balukh, we insist that all persons involved in the case are included in the sanctions lists; all, not only the FSB and court …

Germany's Coordinator of German-Russian Intersocietal Cooperation, Gernot Erler, said that Ukraine should focus on resolving the conflict in the Donbas, and only then return to the issue of Crimea’s de-occupation, reports Deutschlandfunk.de. According to the German special envoy, such an approach coincides with the wishes of the European community. It considers the ending of the armed conflict in Eastern Ukraine a matter of priority. The matter of the de-occupation of the Crimea is on the …

US special representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker will soon visit Russia and meet with Vladislav Surkov, advisor to the Russian president, as stated by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov after meeting with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was in the Philippine capital of Manila on Sunday.

“Rex Tillerson confirmed that such contact with our representative Vladislav Surkov has been planned and will take place soon,” RIA Novosti cites Lavrov as saying.

Lavrov mentioned that Volker …

The National Bank reported that Ukraine's international reserve had reached $18 billion. This was stated by the Deputy Head of the NBU, Dmytro Sologub.

According to Sologub, the favorable situation on the foreign exchange market allowed the National Bank to buy $1.4 billion, a net purchase of foreign currency, from the beginning of 2017.

"At the moment, international reserves amount to about $18 billion," he said. He also noted that the U. S. dollar exchange rate is falling relative to world …

KP NPK Iskra (a plant in Zaporizhia, Ukraine) has created a prototype of the new generation radar station 80K6T, which operates on solid-state modules, the press service of state-owned concern UkrOboronProm reports.

"80K6T meets all world standards. The station is equipped with a transistor transmitter and it is compact enough that it can be transported by an American C-130 Hercules military transport aircraft. These exact requirements were indicated in almost all international tenders for …

Lithuania urged Ukrainian authorities to provide the former head of Odessa Regional State Administration and former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili with an opportunity to defend his right to Ukrainian citizenship in court, as stated by Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevičius, reports Delfi.

"Saakashvili should be given an opportunity to defend his rights at a transparent trial," Linkevičius said.

Linkevičius noted that, from the standpoint of international law, Saakashvili was in …

The chairman of the Free Democratic Party of Germany (FDP), Christian Lindner spoke in favour of Berlin adjusting its direction of politics with Russia.

"Security and prosperity in Europe depend, in particular, on relations with Moscow," he said in an interview with Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper.

“Western countries should make an offer to Russian President Vladimir Putin, which would allow him to change his policy without losing his credibility,” Lindner said. "Talking about this …