At an OSCE ministerial meeting in Hamburg, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov stated that NATO is “desperately dragging Montenegro” into the alliance, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported.

According to Lavrov, the continued enlargement of NATO in the Balkans changes the geopolitical situation on the European continent.

"NATO continues to say that they will continue to expand. Now they are desperately dragging Montenegro into their ranks and we see it. No one asks the people of Montenegro, though …

The new energy policy of Turkey requires all payments to be made in the national currency to the major trading partners in the energy sphere. Ankara is preparing to conduct payments in national currency for the purchase of gas from Russia, the Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Berat Albayrak said, Anadolu news agency reports.

“All relevant agencies are working in this direction," the Minister said and added that Ankara is working on transitioning to the Turkish lira in the procurement …

The agreement  on the supplement contract between Naftogaz of Ukraine and Russia’s Gazprom could not be reached by the tripartite group with the participation of the representatives of the  European Commission, as stated by the head of Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolev, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

"Unfortunately, the agreement could not be reached today. We hope that this can be done in future, but today we were not able to sign the supplementary agreement. Without it, the purchase of Russian gas under …

The Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Lamberto Zannier, reported a split among the organization’s 57 member countries. This statement was released on Friday, December 9th, at the meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Hamburg. Zannier stressed that the split was caused primarily by disagreements over the conflict in Ukraine, but was not limited to that.

The OSCE Secretary General also stated that organization observers encounter obstacles in …

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated that US President Barack Obama’s cancellation of the embargo on the supply of arms, ammunition, and military equipment to allies in Syria can lead to "different kinds of weapons falling into the terrorists’ hands", RBC reports.

According to the Kremlin's representative, "this decision could have a dangerous outcome."

"We need to understand, very carefully, the main goal, intentions, and details of that decision. The worst possible outcome of lifting such …

According to the Anadolu news agency, 300 Turkish commandos were deployed to Syria to join Operation Euphrates Shield which aims to drive members of the so-called Islamic State and Kurdish forces out of northern Syria.

All of them, as noted by the news agency, are servicemen of the 11th Brigade of the Turkish Land Forces, which is based in the Denizli Province.

The military, according to the agency, has already arrived at the Syrian-Turkish border.

The Turkish Military’s Operation, Euphrates …

Before signing an agreement between Ukraine and foreign private creditors on restructuring the debt, the government of Ukraine employed American lobbyists to promote its position, as stated in an article in Ukrayinska Pravda titled ‘Battle for Washington. Lobby of Yatsenyuk-Jaresko.’

Lobbying services were provided by an influential company, APCO Worldwide Inc., which has 600 employees in 35 countries and almost 120 million dollars of revenue in 2015. Its management mostly consists of former …

On December 8, the UN Special Representative for Human Rights, Mark Boyanik, stated in an interview with Radio Svoboda that any criticism in the annexed Crimea can cause immediate backlash. One risk in particular is to be declared a wanted person.

“The Crimea is a place where, unfortunately, it is impossible to hold alternative views. I mean opinions that are not officially sanctioned and supported by the de facto authority. If you make a statement, distribute a message on social media, try to …