The Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the German Bundestag and member of the Christian Democratic Union, Norbert Röttgen, stated in his commentary to RND that Germany should refuse to participate in implementing the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which Russia wants to lay on the bottom of the Baltic Sea.

“The Federal Government should give up its stated position that the Nord Stream 2 is not a political project but purely business,” Röttgen said. “Poland, the Baltic …

The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation, Sergey Lavrov, stated that Moscow will take military measures in case militants of the so-called Islamic Statetry to flee from Mosul into Syria.

“Mosul isn’t fully besieged. I don’t know the reason. Maybe, they were simply unable to do that. I hope that they simply were unable and not that they didn’t want to do that. At least, this corridor poses risks that Islamic State will leave Iraq and Mosul for Syria. If this happens, if …

A U.S. Air Force strategic reconnaissance aircraft approached the borders of the Kaliningrad region and the Leningrad region on Tuesday, as reported by Interfax, citing websites that track the movement of military aircraft.

It is noted that a RC-135W reconnaissance plane departed from the Mildenhall Air Base in the UK, followed a course along the Baltic coast of the Kaliningrad region to Estonia and into the Tartu district, where it also made a flight near the border of the Leningrad Region. A …

Ukraine has raised the issue of regaining control over Debaltseve. The issue was brought up during a video conference between the Trilateral Contact Group and representatives of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR).

“Ukraine specifically drew attention to the provisions of a memorandum dated the 19th of September 2014. It stated that Ukraine would have control over Debaltseve. It also presumed that the conflict would stop at where the contact …

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that the village of Hassajek in the Syrian province of Aleppo was attacked by fighter jets from the Belgian Air Force.

"According to information obtained from the Russian Center for Reconciliation of the Warring Parties from the local Council of the city of Afrin, on the 18th of October, 2016 at about 3 a.m., an airstrike was conducted on the village of Hassajek in the Aleppo province. The bombing destroyed two houses, killing six people and wounding …

Russia and Turkey have agreed to pursue joint actions to drive the al-Nusra Front, also known as al-Qaeda in Syria, from the Syrian city of Aleppo, as stated by Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, RIA Novosti reported.

“Yesterday, I spoke with [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. We discussed Aleppo. He said that bombing has ceased there for 22 hours. He expressed the wish that ‘al-Nusra’ would be ejected from the city. We have given the necessary instructions to colleagues and started to …

After today’s Normandy format meeting between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, and Ukraine to discuss the situation in the Donbas, Russian President Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, and French President François Hollande will discuss the war in Syria, RIA Novosti reported.

According to Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov, “Today the president [Putin] will travel to Berlin on a working meeting… of the Normandy format, which will include Putin, Hollande, Merkel, and Poroshenko… …

The Syrian government has recognized the Crimea as part of Russian territory, as stated by the Speaker of the Syrian Parliament, Hadiyeh al-Abbas, in an interview with Sputnik.

“We recognize that the Crimea is an integral part of Russia,” al-Abbas said, stressing that relations between Damascus and Moscow continue to be strengthened in all areas, especially political, economic, and social ties.

According to al-Abbas, the Crimea was part of the Soviet Union, and "because of the events that …