Speaking at the annual ministerial council of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, a two-day session held in Belgrade, Serbia, the U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry called on Russia to withdraw its troops and equipment from eastern Ukraine so a peace deal can take effect by the end of the year.

“This is the time for concrete steps to end this disastrous and unnecessary conflict, and begin the process of rebuilding in Ukraine’s east,” Kerry said.

Russian Foreign …

According to the reports by the US Navy 6th Fleet, USS Ross will enter the Black Sea on Thursday to promote peace and stability in the region and enhance cooperation with "allies and partners."

Earlier in October, the USS Ross intercepted a ballistic missile as a part of exercises testing the first part of the US missile shield in Europe.

The Black Sea is adjacent to countries with tense relations, in particular Ukraine, Russia and Turkey.

The USS Ross is an Arleigh Burke-class guided …

A Vega rocket powered by a Ukrainian made engine successfully launched from the European spaceport at Kourou, French Guiana on Thursday morning.The European Space Agency’s LISA Pathfinder mission launched atop a Vega rocket begins a year-long mission to demonstrate technologies that could be used for future missions to observe gravity waves.Ukrainian RD-869 engine was originally developed for the post-boost stage of the R-36M2 missile. 

LISA Pathfinder was the sixth launch for the four-stage …

Turkey is responding to the sanctions imposed by Russia after the SU-24 incident with a list of its own sanctions against Russia, as reported by the Milliyet, a Turkish news outlet. Under the leadership of the Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey, Mehmet Şimşek, a meeting was held to discuss the type of sanctions that would be imposed. A bill specifying sanctions was developed at the meeting and will be submitted for approval to the Prime Minister of Turkey, Ahmet Davutoğlu.

The main provisions of …

The NATO Secretary-General, Jens Stoltenberg, stated that NATO can apply article 5 of the Washington Treaty, which will provide military response to all Alliance members, even in case of hybrid attacks on one of the country-members. Stoltenberg noted that the heads of NATO Ministry of Foreign Affairs agreed on a possible application of the Article in any particular case. The hybrid attack can be understood as an armed conflict with the use of terrorist threats and information warfare.

However, …

The coordinator of the civil actions to blockade the Crimea, Lenur Islyamov, said that the road blockade prohibiting the supply of goods, and the destruction of the supply of electricity to Crimea from mainland Ukraine will soon be followed by a “naval blockade” of the Peninsula, including the Kerch ferry, the main transport artery connecting the Crimea with the Krasnodar region of the Russian Federation.

In an interview with Open Russia, Islyamov stated, "We will go further.  We will do the …

The U.S. and the EU agreed to extend sanctions against Russia until full compliance with the Minsk agreements is reached. This information was confirmed by the Coordinator of Sanctions Policy at the U.S. Department of State, Daniel Fried.

The last defining element of all the Minsk agreements – the Minsk Protocol, Minsk Memorandum and Minsk set of activities – is for Kiev to regain control over its internationally recognized border with Russia in Eastern Ukraine, Fried explained, speaking at …

The Russian Head of the Crimea, Sergey Aksyonov, indicated that Crimean authorities have imposed sanctions against Turkey.

"Turkish citizens will not be able to work within the territory of the Crimea, all investment contracts will be terminated, and goods imported into the territory of the Crimea by the Turkish Republic will be banned.  I should mention that the volume of Turkish products exported to the Crimea is insignificant and this will not have a significant impact on development in the …