Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu promised Ukraine to continue cooperation in the face of confrontation with Russia, which, according to him, has reached a "dangerous" level.

"Turkey will not ignore its principles and shut down relations with Ukraine simply because we have extensive ties with Russia. We will do what the national spirit requires and what is necessary for our security," Cavusoglu said, speaking at a virtual conference organized by the Turkish Association for …

German Ambassador to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen considers a large-scale military operation by Russia against Ukraine unlikely.

"Clear words of European politicians and timely coordination sent the right signals in Moscow’s direction. In recent weeks, we have also not seen a significant buildup of troops on Russia's border with Ukraine. Therefore, I consider it unlikely that a large-scale attack by Russia is possible," Feldhusen wrote in her address to German citizens living in Ukraine, Deutsche …

Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that Ukraine might be preparing a military operation in the Donbas.

"The Ukrainian authorities tried twice to resolve the situation in the Donbas by force. Twice! Although I personally asked Poroshenko: just not a military operation. "Yes, yes," and he began. Result? Encirclement, losses and the Minsk agreements. Are they good or not? I believe that they [the Minsk Agreements] are the only possible ones," Putin said at a press conference.

"[Now] They …

Russia will hold exercises of the airborne forces in Crimea and the Krasnodar Krai, TASS reported, citing Russian Defense Ministry.

The drills will begin on December 23 at the Opuk training ground in Crimea. The paratroopers, artillery, chemical and nuclear defense units will conduct live firing drills. The military will also practice demining a section of the terrain and providing fire support to the troops using drones and air attack weapons.

"Military personnel will perform live firing …

The Dutch Prosecutor's Office requested life sentences for three Russians and one citizen of Ukraine, accused of involvement in downing the Malaysian Airlines Boeing over the Donbas on July 17, 2014.

According to BBC News, the prosecutor requested a life sentence for Igor Girkin (Strelkov) - the former Minister of Defense of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Sergei Dubinsky - the former commander of the DPR GRU and Oleg Pulatov - the ex-head of the DPR GRU department.

All three …

NATO has increased the combat readiness of its Response Force in Europe as Russia continues amassing troops near Ukrainian borders.

Die Welt reports, citing a senior NATO representative, that a decision to put 40,000-strong NATO Response Force on high alert was made by the North Atlantic Council because of the buildup of Russian forces near the border with Ukraine.

At the same time, the level of combat readiness of the special forces and logistics services has been increased, and the …

Private military companies from the United States are preparing provocations using chemical weapons in the Donbas, said the Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu at the board meeting of the Russian Defense Ministry.

According to him, 120 employees of American PMCs arrived in the region and are training Ukrainian special forces soldiers.

"Tanks with unidentified chemical components were delivered to the towns of Avdiivka and Krasny Liman to carry out provocations," RIA Novosti quoted Shoygu …

Lithuania called on NATO to deploy troops to Russia's borders, amid continued deployment of Russian troops near Ukrainian borders. "NATO must respond not only by deploying its troops to the eastern front, but also by strengthening its military potential. Strengthening the military potential is good, but we should have an algorithm, what to do in the case of scenario A, scenario B, scenario C," said Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda at a joint press conference with the presidents of Ukraine …