The First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Ivan Rusnak, and the United States Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF), Deborah Lee James, discussed the development of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Censor.net quotes the Ministry’s press service as reporting that the meeting was held on Thursday, July 14, 2016 in Kiev.

During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation towards developing Ukraine’s air force in the face of the current political and …

The U.S. Congress approved the draft law that strengthens anti-Russian sanctions, as stated in the report published on the website of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

It was reported that the Committee endorsed the draft law on the support of stability and democracy in Ukraine that provides for deterrence of Russian aggression in Ukraine and assistance in holding democratic transformations. The draft law will be submitted for consideration of the House of …

On Thursday, at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Geneva, the U.S. Representative to the OSCE, Ambassador Daniel Baer, referred to the Russian actions that instigate the continued conflict in eastern Ukraine in recent days as obstructionism, incitement and hypocrisy, Ukrinform reports.

"Over the past week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have suffered the heaviest losses since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in September 2015," the representative of the United States said.

He …

Next month, a new batch of Russian S-400 Triumpf anti-aircraft systems will be transferred to the Crimea, TASS reported.

The 18th Air Defense Missile Regiment of the 31st Air Defense Division, already stationed on the annexed Peninsula, will receive the new systems which can engage targets at a distance of up to 400 km.

"Upon completion of initial live-firing exercises on the ground of the Air Defense Research and Testing Center of the 4th State Central Combined Arms Practice Range in August 2 …

The US Senate has approved the appoint of Marie Yovanovitch as the next Ambassador to Ukraine, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported, referencing New York Times journalist David M. Herszenhorn.

Yovanovitch will replace Geoffrey Pyatt, who has been appointed the next US Ambassador to Greece.

“Marie L. Yovanovitch confirmed by Senate as US ambassador to Ukraine replacing Geoff Pyatt at crucial juncture in country's history,” Herszenhorn wrote on Twitter.

Since 2012, Yovanovitch has served as Principal …

American officials from the intelligence and defense sectors criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal for coordination between the US and Russia in Syria, The New York Times reports.

Even though Kerry believes in possible cooperation with Moscow, many representatives from American intelligence agencies and the Pentagon are suspicious of this plan.

According to one of the officials, it remains unclear why Kerry is confident that Russia will support the White House’s goals in …

Izvestia has reported that the Makeyev State Rocket Design Bureau (SRC) has received a government contract to develop a new ballistic missile. This missile will, most likely, be created for nuclear fifth generation Husky-class submarines.

“At the moment, we are working on several contracts with the Ministry of Defense on the development of land and sea ballistic missiles. The new Sarmat heavy ballistic missile will update the armament of the land forces, and there is work being done on a …

On July 13, 2016, the German Cabinet of Ministers approved a new white paper which outlined the country’s security and defense strategy, Deutsche Welle reports. This document, developed under the auspices of the Ministry of Defense, is of crucial importance for the future role of the Bundeswehr (the unified armed forces of Germany, their civil administration and procurement authorities).

The new white paper takes into account changes in the security sector that have occurred since 2006, when …