Germany and four other EU countries called on Moscow to protect the LGBT community in Chechnya. In a letter addressed to Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and his colleagues from France, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Sweden expressed deep concern over the reports of international organizations about the situation in the Caucasian republic, AFP agency reported on Wednesday.

"We urge the Russian government to investigate horrendous accusations …

Krasmash, the main manufacturer of Intercontinental Ballistic sea-based Sarmat missiles, is ready to start mass production of these missiles, reports Russia’s Zvezda (Star) TV channel.  

It is expected that the Russian military will start receiving the missiles in 2018.

“Currently, RS-20B Voyevoda is considered the most powerful ICMB (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile). The new Sarmat missile will be much lighter than Voyevoda and will have a better fuel efficiency. The target range of the …

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says that at the present time, there is virtually no trust between Washington and Moscow. He referenced the agreements on arms control and the situation in Ukraine as the areas in which Russia "is not being particularly helpful today."

At the same time, he mentioned the necessity to restore a certain level of trust with Russia. He stated there was a need to work on a long list of things – from military and nuclear agreements to Ukraine, the Crimea, and …

Foreign military contingents may be deployed in the “security zones” that Russia has proposed to establish in Syria, reports Kommersant newspaper, referring to a draft memorandum submitted by Moscow to negotiators in Astana.

In this memorandum, Russia, Turkey and Iran are called “guarantors of the ceasefire in Syria”.

Four "de-escalation zones" have been proposed - in the province of Idlib, north of Homs, in eastern Ghouta, as well as in southern Syria.

The exact location of these zones …

On April 28, information came to light about the confiscation of the assets of former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych in accordance with the ruling of a court in Kramatorsk. Current President Petro Poroshenko noted that this money must not be “squandered”, but rather directed toward the army and the public sphere. Poroshenko also announced a new blocking of funds to the accounts of former officials. The runaway president’s legal defense denied that this money exists. Later, Prosecutor …

Helicopters from the airborne unit of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet conducted exercises that were designed to find enemy submarines that might be in the Crimea. This was reported by the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry.

“Scheduled training exercises of the crews of Ka-27 and Mi-8 helicopters were held in the Crimea with the participation of servicemen and local personnel of the air commandant’s office together with the regiment of Naval Aviation of the Black Sea Fleet,” stated the …

Syrian opposition suspended its participation in the talks on Syria that are taking place in Astana, Interfax news agency reported citing an opposition representative.

"We left the meeting because even as we sat down at the negotiating table, the hostilities in the vicinity of Homs and Daraa continued, and there was no clear agenda," said a member of the delegation, Osama Abu Zeid.

He noted that the opposition delegation would not return to the negotiating table, "until the fighting stops and …

During the meeting in Sochi on Wednesday, May 3, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan agreed to lift virtually all mutual trade restrictions.

The only exception was the ban on the import of Turkish tomatoes in Russia. According to Putin, this will be lifted once Russian producers recover the investments caused by the closing of the market.

Putin emphasized that he and Erdogan had achieved an agreement regarding the “complex resolution of all the problems …