At a reception held by Russian President Valdimir Putin, Bavarian Minister-President Horst Seehofer said that he would make an effort to restore normal relations with Russia.  He had previously stated that the Bavarian economy is suffering due to sanctions placed against Russia.

Seehofer is also the head of the Christian Social Union party (CSU).  He viewed his visit to Moscow as a step towards achieving these normal relations with Russia.  “We wholeheartedly wish to contribute to the …

As of January 2016, the international reserves of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU) have increased from 100 million dollars to 13.4 billion dollars.This was reported by the head of the NBU, Valery Gontareva, at a parliamentary meeting held in Kiev on Wednesday.“We haven’t lost a single penny of our stocks in January, which is a good sign,” she said.Gontareva originally predicted reserve growth this year to be between 15 and 18 billion dollars.  However, this prediction failed due to the pause …

The population of Crimea is presently viewing Ukrainian television channels via a satellite owned by a number of European companies.  At the same time, Crimean TV stations are trying to retransmit their programs through less popular satellites due to the current economic sanctions.

The Adviser to the Minister on the Crimean Information Policy, Emine Jeppar, commented on the matter.

“The Ministry on the Crimean Information Policy is aware of the issue of the channel retransmission by the …

Correspondents of the Russian news outlet, The Insider, have found people who assisted a Russian TV channel in creating a false story about refugees in Germany. The Police are denying the information provided in the channel’s report.

The false story by the Russian TV channel, Star, which aired on the 14th of January, reported the rape and murder of a woman in a refugee shelter in Hannover. The police have denied the information concerning the murder, according to German newspaper Hannoversche …

On February 1st, the Special Mission of the OSCE recorded 337 explosions in the Donbas region and on February 2nd, almost five times more.

The Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) of the OSCE observed numerous violations of the ceasefire in eastern Ukraine as stated in the observer’s report from February 2nd, published on the official website of the OSCE.

In particular, the observers recorded 337 explosions on February 1st and 1,614 on February 2nd, including those fired from heavy weapons. "On …

At the annual “State of the Country” address, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili devoted a significant part of his speech to Euro-Atlantic integration and relations with Russia.

The President of Georgia noted that “The stability of Europe is dependent on stable Caucasus.”

Margvelashvili once again accused Moscow of “the occupation of 20% of Georgian territory.”  He also warned that Russia “will never be able to achieve its goals by capturing territories of neighboring states.”

He …

Diplomats say that Ukraine’s former Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Aivaras Abromavičius, and his advisers sought to overcome the corruption that hinders the development of Ukraine.

Diplomatic representatives of six Western countries issued a joint statement in Kiev with regard to the resignation of Abromavičius.  The Ambassadors of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania and Sweden have expressed “deep disappointment” at the resignation of Abromavičius and his group of advisers. …

A Russian Military Adviser died in Syria on the 1st of February.  The Military reported this to Interfax yesterday.

According to the Defense Ministry, the Military Adviser was in Syria to assist the Syrian army in supplying new weapons under existing contracts of interstate military-technical cooperation.

On the 1st of February, the officer received a mortal wound as a result of a mortar attack by terrorists of the so-called Islamic State.  This occurred at one of their military garrisons, …