Energy Ministers of Belarus and Russia, Viktor Karankevich and Alexander Novak, resumed attempts to come to an agreement on gas prices, with Minsk demanding a considerable discount. Negotiations held on June 9 over vodeo conference, which involved the deputy chief of staff of Gazprom Alexander Meshkov, Ambassador to Minsk Vladimir Semashko, ended without any results.

The press service of the Russian Ministry of Energy did not report any concrete results of the conversation, while Minsk …

In Syria, unknown assailants detonated an improvised explosive device under a Russian military police patrol vehicle, reported by RIA Novosti with reference to the report of the Russian Reconciliation Center for Syria.

It all happened on the morning of June 9 near the town of Kobani in Syria's Kurdistan. Unknown people tried to force the patrol to turn back. "During a U-turn at the end of the route there was an explosive device triggered under Russian car," the military said.

No one was …

On Tuesday, June 9, a telephone conversation took place between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin. They discussed the Donbas and negotiations in the "Normandy format”, as reported on the Kremlin's website.

It is noted that the conversation took place at the initiative of the German leader. Mekrel was concerned about the lack of progress in the implementation of the Minsk agreements and the decisions of the December Normandy Four summit.

Putin and Merkel …

The Kremlin plans to issue Russian passports to 600 to 800,000 residents of the territories of Donbass outside of Ukraine's control by the end of the year, stated the First Deputy Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee for CIS Affairs Viktor Vodolatsky in an interview with TASS.

He said that more than 180,000 residents of the so-called Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics have already received Russian citizenship under the simplified procedure, and about 100,000 more will receive …

The Ukrainian government is making the first concessions to Hungary. The Ukrainian Ministry of Community and Territories Development has unveiled new zoning projects in the Ukrainian regions, which stated that a new Beregovsky region is going to be established, writes Ukrainian publicist Andriy Lyubka in the "Point of View" column on Radio Liberty.

The majority of the population in the area will speak Hungarian, and the region is located along the border with Hungary.

The Hungarians for …

Turkey has concluded an agreement with Russia for the delivery of the second batch of S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems, said the Undersecretary for Turkish Defense Industries İsmail Demir in an interview with the Turkish TV channel NTV.

According to him, Ankara and Moscow have reached an "agreement in principle" on the supply of the second batch of missile defense systems.

Demir noted that the agreement will soon be implemented, and "technical work remains to be carried out on the transfer …

The court in the Netherlands in the case of the downed Boeing flight MH17 over the Donbas in 2014 intends to include into the case materials an interview of one of the former commanders of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic, Igor Girkin, with Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Gordon, reports Deutsche Welle, citing the presiding judge, Hendrik Steenhuis.

This is an interview that Gordon posted on his YouTube channel on May 18.

In a nearly four-hour conversation with the journalist, Girkin …

On Monday, June 8, the court hearings in the case of the flight MH17 downed over the Donbas have resumed in the Netherlands.

"As planned, the criminal case of MH17 will resume on Monday, June 8. However, due to the current coronavirus and relevant national guidelines, the court hearing block has been amended to allow a limited number of people to attend the courtroom at Schiphol Judicial Complex. Naturally, everyone can follow the hearings live," the court said in a statement.

In addition to …