Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko called on Russia to respect the sovereignty of his country. In his annual address to the Parliament and the people of Belarus, Lukashenko urged Moscow to not consider Belarus its ‘errand boy.’

"I want Russians and especially the leadership of Russia to understand that we will not be their errand boy. We are an independent, sovereign state, which lives in the same house with them but has its own apartment. Maybe a tiny and small apartment, but still its …

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, has signed a law banning films produced in Russia after 2013, as well as films which popularize authorities of an aggressor state.

An amendment to the Ukrainian law "on cinematography", concerning the films of an aggressor state (No 3359), entered the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) with the President's signature on April 20, 2016.

"Under part one of this article, a ban on the distribution and demonstration of films containing the …

According to NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow, the Alliance intends to strengthen its military presence in the Black Sea region, RBC-Ukraine reported, with reference to Deutsche Welle.

Vershbow explained that the aggressive actions of the Russian Federation on the one hand, and the “instability and violence on the southern borders of the Alliance that threaten to spill over onto its territory in the form of terrorism and uncontrolled migration" on the other, pose a "challenge …

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, discussed the possibility of creating a joint military brigade with Romania and Bulgaria during his visit to Bucharest.

“We have discussed the possibility of creating a Ukrainian-Romanian-Bulgarian brigade based on the model of the Ukrainian-Lithuanian-Polish brigade, as we have had a very positive experience implementing that agreement, during the President of Bulgaria’s visit to Kiev and in today’s negotiations. I’m sure that such steps will …

The Security Police (SP) of Latvia requested that the prosecutor's office of Riga initiate criminal proceedings against a tour operator that organizes trips to the Crimea, Delfi.lv reported.

According to the SP, the criminal proceedings were initiated as a result of the violation of the EU ban on providing services directly related to tourism in the Crimea and Sevastopol. The SP believes that enough evidence was gathered to start criminal proceedings against one individual for an intentional …

The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) will impose personal sanctions against all of those who are involved in political persecution in Crimea. A member of the Permanent Delegation of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament), Georgy Logvynskiy, posted this on his Facebook page.

According to the PACE resolution, the targeted sanctions include freezing assets and bank accounts, an entry ban and other sanctions, including arrest and detention. "These targeted sanctions …

As was reported by the MFA press service, the Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs strongly protests the conviction of Ukrainian Citizen Sergey Litvinov who is being illegally detained in Russia and was sentenced to 8 years and 6 months imprisonment in a maximum security penal colony.

"The illegal judicial decision was based on fabricated and false evidence received after he was subjected to psychological pressure and torture. It has become obvious that Russia wants to sentence all illegally …

If Ukraine's integration into the European Union negatively affects Russian interests, then Moscow will assume balancing measures, reported the Russian President's Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov.

"It is a subject which concerns, most likely, the European Union and Ukraine. As much as it concerns Russian-Ukrainian relations and the economic relations of Russia, we will trace the possible negative consequences very attentively," RIA Novosti quotes Peskov.

According to Peskov, Moscow is …