Russia will not be able to complete the Nord Stream 2 pipeline on its own because it lacks the necessary technology. There will be a "long delay" in construction due to US sanctions, despite the assurances of Russian President Vladimir Putin that the gas pipeline will be completed in a few months, said the U.S. Secretary of Energy Dan Brouillette at the Munich Security Conference on Saturday, February 15.

"They can't," Brouillette said when asked.

The U.S. Energy Secretary also denied reports …

Belarus will continue to diversify oil purchases from other countries even if it costs more than buying Russian oil, said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at a meeting with the staff of the Svetlogorsk Pulp and Board Plant.

The Belarusian President explained that he was ready to pay more "so that, every year on December 31, not to kneel" before Putin.

"It shouldn't be like this, and it won't be," he said.

The Belarusian president also spoke about the pressure of Putin, who wants the …

Turkey is moving personnel, weapons and military equipment to the de-escalation zone in the Syrian province of Idlib, much of which goes to militants from the Jabhat al-Nusra group, Russian media reported citing military and diplomatic sources in the Kremlin.

"The American MANPADS, which the militants did not have before, fell into the hands of terrorists thanks to Turkish supplies," the Russian news agency TASS quoted one of the sources as saying.

Russia believes that the use of these …

The Ukrainian side has proposed a new procure for withdrawal of forces in the Donbas, announced Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during his speech at the Munich Security Conference, Ukraynska Pravda reports.

The Ukrainian President said that Kyiv suggested a so-called sector-based withdrawal. According to him, the line of demarcation will be divided into several sectors and the troops in them will be withdrawn    gradually.

The transition from one sector to the next will be made only …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr  Zelensky said that the Ukrainian authorities are ready for a dialogue with the residents  of the so-called Luhansk and Donetsk People’s Republics, as well as with those who left the territories of the Donbas which are not under Kyiv’s control, reported the President 's press service with reference to his speech at the Munich Security Conference.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine has initiated the creation of a dialogue platform "Peace of Donbass" in which both …

Another Syrian government helicopter was shot down in Idlib province, Turkey's Anadolu news agency reported. The incident reportedly took place in the west of the province in the de-escalation zone. All of the crew members were killed.

According to the news agency, the Mi-17 helicopter was flying from Aleppo when, in the vicinity of the town of Kaptan al-Jabal, the Syrian opposition forces allegedly fired a surface-to-air missile at it. At that time, fierce fighting was taking place near …

Russian Ambassador to Turkey Alexey Yerkhov said that he has started receiving threats amid the deterioration of the situation in Idlib, Syria.

“I have been receiving direct threats,” he told Sputnik-Turkey in an interview.

According to the diplomat, anti-Russian comments have started appearing in the Turkish segment of social media. “There’s escalation in Syria. Agreed: these are very painful developments and troubling days… But look at the terrible madness on social networks,” he remarked. …

Ukraine’s Cabinet of Ministers is investigating the possibility of conducting a census of the population in the Donbas and Crimea using satellite images, Dmytro Dubilet, Minister of the Cabinet of Ministers, told Ukrainian Radio.

He said that he has already met with UN representatives who will assist with the satellite imagery project, which is very challenging.

“A similar project was carried out in Afghanistan, where a significant portion of the territory is not controlled by the government. …