• Macierewicz: Safe Ukraine means safe Poland and Europe

    The Minister of National Defence of Poland, Antoni Macierewicz, emphasized the strategic nature of the cooperation between his country and Ukraine and the need for further development of bilateral cooperation between the two countries in the defence sector. Following the results of the meeting with the Ukrainian Minister of Defence, Stepan Poltorak, Macierewicz told journalists, “Ukraine is a strategic partner of Poland and our absolute priority. That is why I paid my first visit as a Minister …

  • Russians Reluctant to Sell Homes in Turkish Marmaris

    Several hundred Russian property owners refused to sell their assets in the Turkish city of Marmaris. According to the Association of Realtors, foreign tourists who invested in real estate in Marmaris, refused to put their property up for sale despite the deterioration of relations between the two countries after a Russian bomber was shot down by Turkey.

    "The Russian sailors bought hotels and houses for themselves and their relatives, making great investments in real estate.  Last year alone …

  • Russian Conditions for End of Turkish Crisis

    Russian authorities have made demands that would end the current crisis with Turkey. Interfax reported that Russian Ambassador to Turkey, Andrei Karlov outlined three conditions.

    First, Turkey must formally apologize for the incident with the Russian Sukharov-24 bomber that was shot down by Turkish fighter jets on November 24th.  Second, the responsible parties must be brought to justice.  Third, Turkey must compensate Russia for the losses incurred in the incident.

    Speaking about the death …

  • Free Syrian Army Denies Military Cooperation with Russia

    Representatives of the "Free Syrian Army" (FSA) told Reuters that Russian aviation not only supports them, but also regularly bombs rebel forces.

    Groups identifying themselves as FSA, together with Kurdish police, formed a new coalition called the "Democratic Forces of Syria" (DFS), which has received U.S. support for fighting ISIL.

    The Alliance has acknowledged that Russian air strikes indirectly helped them during the recent battles with the enemies of "al-Nusra", a member of terrorist …

  • Ukraine to Conclude Large Rail Contract With Turkmenistan

    The Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine, Hennadiy Zubko and Vice Prime Minister of Turkmenistan, Satlik Satlikov agreed on a business venture whereby Ukraine would supply 1,500 rail cars to Turkmenistan. 750 of them have already been made available for use.

    Satlikov conveyed Turkmenistan’s interest in non-standard rail cars and vehicles from Ukraine, to be used on a railway along the TAPI gas pipeline. The Turkmen export commission is reportedly now studying the possibility of supplying the rail …

  • Belarus Foreign Minister discusses cooperation with EU and NATO

    As reported by Belarusian news agency Belta.by, the country's Foreign Minister Uladzimer Makey visited Brussels on December 13-14 to discuss cooperation with EU and NATO officials.

    Mr. Makey's talks with NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow, EU Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, and EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini are seen as another sign of warming relations between Minsk and the West.

    In late October, the EU …

  • More EU Sanctions for Russia?

    An automatic extension of EU sanctions against Russia has not yet happened, and Italy is insisting that EU governments engage in meaningful political discussion to consider their effectiveness over the Kremlin’s policies.

    A discussion of the effectiveness of the sanctions, which are set to expire December 31st,  could help EU member states decide if the current sanctions should be extended, weakened, or removed altogether. As EU Ministers meet in Brussels in the coming days, they are expected …

  • Ukraine to seek closer defense cooperation with Poland, Baltic states

    The Lithuanian, Latvian, Estonian, and Polish Defense Ministers will pay a visit to Ukraine in order to discuss further defensive cooperation, according to the Facebook page of the Ukrainian Defense Minister, Stepan Poltorak.

    “An important event in the history of the Ukrainian defense agency is expected to occur tomorrow. The Defense Ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Poland are coming to Ukraine. Following the results of the meeting, a signing of a joint agreement on further …

  • De-facto Prime Minister expropriates property in Crimea

    The Prime Minister of Russian-Occupied Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, has declared a wartime regime and demanded that five local businesses hand over their water wells to the administrative body of the city of Sudak.

    “In emergency situations, we can make protocol decisions, obliging private businesses to hand over their wells in order to provide the population with drinking water. The wartime regime allows us to initiate criminal proceedings against those who impede this decision” Aksyonov stated at …

  • Pro-Russian Cossack Commander Killed by Alleged Car Bomb in Eastern Ukraine

    The car of Cossack commander Pavel Dremov of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic (LPR) was blown up on the way to his wedding.

    According to the official news agency of the separatist authorities, the explosion occurred at a gas station en route Pervomaisk - Stakhanov. Dremov died immediately, and the driver of the car later died from his injuries. The authorities of the self-proclaimed LPR proclaimed the incident a terrorist attack.

    "The explosion of a car which killed the commander …