Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said that the Russian military would conduct more than 2,800 exercises in 2017, TASS reported.

"Overall more than two thousand eight hundred tactical, special tactical and command staff exercises are planned for the current year. In September, we will hold the Russian-Belarusian strategic exercise West-2017,” Shoygu said during a conference call in the military department.

He drew the attention of the commanders to the need to take into account the …

NATO denies that the planned negotiations with Kyiv have been postponed, as announced on Radio Liberty, on February 2nd, by a spokesman of the alliance who wished to remain anonymous.

"There is no meeting with any country that was canceled. We will continue to exchange information, to consult and cooperate with our neighbors and partners as the need arises, on a gradual and phased approach. NATO recognizes and respects the interests of other countries regarding the NATO missile defense systems. …

The Chairwoman of the National Bank of Ukraine, Valeriya Hontareva, stated in an interview with Liga.net that the National Bank believes that there will be no major bankruptcies of Ukrainian banks.

“We have 40 banks that in terms of assets made up 97% of the entire banking system. You have already seen who didn’t survive in the first top 20. The second top 20 passed the test on January 1st, 2017. The Platinum Bank and Fortuna Bank withdrew from the market. The latter, despite the fact it was …

Russia made the decision to establish a border zone with Belarus without prior warning, as stated by the press service of the Belarusian Foreign Ministry, Maria Vanshina, Belta reported.

"First, the fact that Russia decided to establish a border zone on the border with Belarus without prior notice is contrary to all effective agreements governing the protection of state borders between the two countries and the border crossing agreements," Vanshina said.

According to her, this is not the …

The worsening situation in Avdiivka reminds Ukrainians about continuing challenges brought by Russian aggression in Eastern Ukraine, said the President of the European Council, Donald Tusk, at a meeting with the Prime Minister of Libya, Fayez Mustafa al-Sarraj.

According to Tusk, the crisis in Ukraine is still on the radar display of the European Union. "Recent violations of the ceasefire show the new level of intensity and violence. The humanitarian situation in the area of Avdiivka is …

The United States Department of the Treasury has slightly eased sanctions against the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB). This, according to some experts, may help some US technology companies.

The directive, published on February 2, canceled some of the sanctions imposed by former U.S. President Barack Obama at the end of last year against the Federal Security Service of Russia.

U.S. citizens, companies, and other entities were forbidden to engage in any commercial relations with the …

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, intends to hold a referendum on Ukraine’s accession to NATO. Poroshenko didn’t specify the date of voting. The President stated in his interview to the German newspaper Berliner Morgenpost that Ukraine needs NATO, noting that he will make every effort to ensure the accession of Ukraine to NATO if Ukrainians vote in favor of this.

“As the President of Ukraine, I will ask my people for their opinions on this issue. A referendum on the accession of …

It has been one week since Ukrainian veterans blocked the Luhansk-Lysychansk-Popasna railway in order to curb trade with the territories of the Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, which are not under Ukraine’s control. Over time, the blockade gathered many supporters and opponents. Supporters consider the blockade as real way to stop the war in the Donbas, while opponents suspected Deputies of attempting to exploit it for PR purposes. One the main requirements of the blockade participants …