When Ukraine opens the land market, a referendum will be held, and if the sale of agricultural land is opened to foreigners, this will definitely not apply to Russian citizens, Roman Leshchenko, the Ukrainian President’s Commissioner for Land Affairs, told Interfax-Ukraine in an interview.

If one of the founders of a Ukrainian company that is purchasing agricultural land has Russian citizenship, the property will be confiscated by the state through a special mechanism enshrined in the law on …

For several years, the Polish state-controlled oil and gas company PGNiG (Polskie Górnictwo Naftowe i Gazownictwo) has overpaid Russia’s Gazprom at least €230 million per year, PGNiG CEO Piotr Woźniak told TVP Info in an interview. He said that since 2014 at least, PGNiG has paid roughly one billion zloty (about €233 million) too much for Russian gas – the different between Gazprom’s prices and market prices.

Woźniak hopes that the Stockholm Arbitration Institute, which PGNiG has already …

Turkey’s statement that it might conduct a new military operation in northern Syria if the Kurdish rebels do not withdraw could aggravate the situation, the Russian media reported on Tuesday, citing a statement by the Russian Defense Ministry. The defense department also refuted Ankara’s claims that Moscow has failed to meet its commitments according to the agreement that was reached in Sochi.

“The Defense Ministry was surprised by the statement of Turkish Foreign Minister M. Cavusoglu about …

The Israeli military confirmed it had carried out air strikes against dozens of Iranian targets in Syria on Wednesday. According to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) the air strikes were  in response to rocket fire on the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights the day before.

A London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Right (SOHR) reported that the Israeli airstrikes killed 11 people. Among the killed are seven members of pro-Iranian militia.  

The Israeli military said its fighter jets hit multiple …

The military exercises of the Russian Black Sea Fleet have started in the Black Sea, reports RIA Novosti, citing the Russian Navy's press service.

Ships based in Sevastopol and Novorossiysk, the frigate Admiral Essen, a large landing ship Azov, and small rocket ship Vyshny Volochek are involved in the military drills. The support vessels and minesweepers Turbinist and Kovrovets are also participating in the drills, as well as Su-30SM fighter jets.

During the exercise, the ships' crews will …

German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said that Germany believes that the transit of Russian gas through the territory of Ukraine should continue after 2019, reports Interfax-Ukraine.

During a joint briefing with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko in Kyiv, Maas said that "we [Germany] support negotiations on gas transit through Ukraine. We believe that transit should continue after 2019."

Maas stressed that he wants to dispel certain speculations around the "gas" topic that have recently …

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Vadym Prystaiko said that the Ukrainian side expects real progress in settlement of the conflict in the Donbas after the Normandy Four meeting.

During a joint briefing with German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas in Kyiv, Prystaiko said that "We [Ukraine] hope that at this meeting we will achieve the real progress that we have expected since at least 2016, when the last Normandy Four meeting was held."

Prystaiko said that the Ukrainian delegation will go to the Normandy …

The Russian Defense Ministry is sending additional military police to northern Syria to “normalize the situation” along the Turkish-Syrian border, the military department announced.

According to Defense Ministry Spokesperson Igor Konashenkov, the additional Russian military police forces will be deployed along the border between Syria and Turkey. He did not clarify whether the reinforcements would come from divisions already stationed elsewhere in Syria, or whether another battalion of …