According to estimates by the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, the holding of the Caucasus 2016 military drills has a number of political purposes of internal and external nature, including an attempt to legalize the Russian status of the annexed Crimea, as stated by a representative of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Vadim Skibitskiy.

“The first purpose of these military drills is to distract citizens’ …

Last week NATO fighter aircraft, as part of the Baltic air patrol mission, scrambled five times to identify and escort Russian military aircraft flying in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. This was stated in a report from the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense.

According to the country’s military department, last Tuesday the allied fighters identified and escorted an IL-20 plane en route from the Kaliningrad area to mainland Russia and on Wednesday flew with an An-24 plane flying from …

The Foreign Minister of Ukraine, Pavlo Klimkin, believes that the discussion of the Ukrainian issue at the G20 Summit is a testimony to the support of the international community as well as a guarantee that Ukraine will not face Russian aggression alone.

"We have friends and partners who have proved that they are ready to support Ukraine, including solidarity, political pressure and sanctions against Russia. We spoke to them prior to the G20 Summit and have a clear, common, and firm position. …

The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin stated that the Normandy format for the peaceful settlement of the conflict in the Donbas will continue its existence. “Regarding the Normandy format, whether it is good or bad, there is no other means of settling conflicts. That is why, of course, Russia will support this format,” Putin stated at a press conference following the G-20 Summit, TASS wrote.

In response to the question of whether it means the resumption of meetings with the President of …

The Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Defense Ministry of Ukraine claims that the scale of the Caucasus-2016 exercise is much bigger than reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense.

"The real scale of the exercise is considerably bigger than the Russian Federation declares. Russia officially announced that 12 thousand soldiers, 90 tanks, 300 combat vehicles, up to 20 helicopters and up to 15 warships will participate in the exercise. However, today there are no international mechanisms …

NATO’s multinational military exercises, Agile Spirit, are being held in Georgia, which includes command and staff exercises as well as field exercises. Besides the Georgian and U.S. military, this year’s Agile Spirit is also attended by representatives from Turkey, Ukraine, Bulgaria, Romania and Latvia. The goal of the exercise is to improve the interaction of the Georgian military with colleagues from the United States and partner countries, to ensure support of the security in the region and …

Lithuania found the arms proposal for eastern Europe made by the German Minister of Foreign Affairs, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, totally unacceptable. As the Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Linas Linkevičius, stated on Monday, September 5 in an interview with DPA (German Press Agency), the country “cannot be overloaded with additional limits and upper bounds.”

According to him, the situation in the region remains unstable. The leader of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs believes …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that sending Turkish troops to Syria was not a surprise for Russia. He stated this after the G20 Summit in Hangzhou.

“As for the surprises, we’ve got the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and special services for such cases, to have fewer surprises. In principle, we understood what was happening, and where it all led. Everything is visible: movements, aspirations, even the problems happening in the very same Turkey due to the events in Syria are visible,” Putin …