The President of Finland, Sauli Niinistö stated in his interview with Dagens Nyheter daily that Finland will apply for membership of NATO in case the security situation deteriorates. “We can’t exclude the possibility of applying for NATO membership. It would be a serious mistake because it’s a tool of national security policy and Russia knows that we have this tool,” Niinistö noted.

“We are developing our partnership and cooperation with NATO at this stage. If we see significant deterioration …

The Prime Minister of Norway, Erna Solberg announced that Norway has begun a large scale strengthening of its defense capability and an upgrade of the military sector for protection from unpredictable actions by the Russian Federation, Deutsche Welle reported.

According to the proposed law that should be approved by the Parliament, Norway plans to increase its military budget by 165 billion crowns (17.5 billion Euros) during the next 20 years. Solberg said the planned upgrade is the largest …

The Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel recently spoke about NATO’s unflagging support of Ukraine, noting that a return to normal relations with Russia won’t be possible until the restoration of Ukraine’s territorial integrity within its active borders.

“The NATO-Ukraine meeting was a constituent part of defense ministry negotiations that have recently ended. Negotiations of the same format will be held with the President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw, in July,” …

Advisers to the heads of the sates of the Normandy quartet agreed on three pilot sites for troops and weaponry withdrawal in eastern Ukraine.

The Deputy Head of Administration of the President of Ukraine, Kostiantyn Yeliseyev, met with the advisers to the heads of the Normandy Four states and an OSCE Representative in Minsk.

"The meetings were held with the advisers to the heads of the Normandy Four states. Participating in the meeting with me were the advisers to the German Chancellor, the …

During his opening speech at the St. Petersburg Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that a new Euro-Asian Economic Union is being planned. The Union will include China as one of its members, as reported by the Russian Gazeta.ru news portal.

“In June together with China we are planning to establish a vast Euro-Asian partnership,” Putin stated. He didn’t disclose any specific details of this partnership.

At the same time Putin called on all Russian partners in the already …

Ukrainian businessman Oleksandr Yaroslavsky is considering the possibility of purchasing one of the three “daughters” of Russian banks in Ukraine, including the “daughter” of Russian Sberbank. “I have considered investing in the banking sector, including the investment in the “daughter” of Russian Sberbank. However, no specific steps had been taken in this direction,” Yaroslavsky stated in his interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

In early June, the Deputy Chairman of the National Bank of Ukraine ( …

According to Macierewicz, Russia should stop imposing its views and rules on other states and peoples through military force.

The Polish Minister of Defense, Anthony Macierewicz, said that Russia is currently the biggest threat to world security as reported by PAP. "With all due respect to the Russian people and especially to Russian artists... it doesn't change the fact that Russia is the biggest threat to global security today," the Minister said.

According to him, Russia is country with a …

The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, has called the 16th of June a “happy day in terms of security and defense” due to the successful launch of a Belarusian-developed missile.

“During the first launch, the rockets just missed the target by one and a half meters. It hit just 10 meters away from the target on the second launch. It’s perfect,” Lukashenko said.

He added that the missile system was developed in the country over a period of two years. He asked that the Prime Minister of …