The two Russian Tu-160 strategic bombers which arrived in Venezuela earlier this week have made a roughly 10-hour flight over the Caribbean Sea, the Russian Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday evening.

The Defense Ministry’s report notes that the Tu-160 missile carriers were accompanied at certain stages of the route by Su-30 fighters as well as F-16s from the Venezuelan Air Force. During the flights, pilots from both countries practiced cooperating in the air.

The Russian military …

Turkish President Recep Erdogan stated that the Turkish army would soon begin a new military operation in northern Syria, Anadolu agency reports.

“Turkey has prevented a major humanitarian crisis in Idlib. Now it is time to destroy terrorists operating to the east of the Euphrates river. Our goal is to destroy the terrorists in the area,” he stated.

By terrorists, Erdogan means the Kurdish National People’s Protection Units (YPG).

“We clearly define YPG militants as terrorists, while Ankara’ …

The Polish Defense Ministry is in talks with the United States on the acquisition of Patriot missile systems and HIMARS artillery rockets systems, stated Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Błaszczak.

“In March 2018, I signed an agreement with the American side on the purchase of a Patriot missile system. We are currently negotiating on further contracts, for example, the purchase of HIMARS systems. We are waiting for the consent of the US Congress. The State Department has already given consent. …

China is hoping to solve its water deficit in a number of regions with Russia’s help. The Chinese Association for Exchanges and Collaboration between Russia, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and China has already sent the corresponding letter to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev.

One of the options proposed by China is an intergovernmental project to divert water from Russia’s Altai Krai to western China through Kazakhstan. The construction of the water pipeline would cost an estimated $80 …

At a meeting of the Human Rights Council in Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the case of the Russian woman Maria Butina arrested in the USA. According to Putin, Russian special services do not know anything about her.

“But this girl Butina, how unfortunate, she is in prison, she faces 15 years. For what?” stated the Russian President.

He added that after he heard about Butina’s arrest, he asked Russian special services leaders about her. “Who is she? Nobody knows anything …

During a telephone briefing with journalists, United States Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom Samuel Brownback confirmed that the US government may impose sanctions on Russia because of violations religious freedom. "They [ the Russian authorities] really… intensified their oppression," said Brownback while speaking of Russian authorities and religious freedoms, as quoted by TASS.

The briefing was held after US Secretary of State Michael Pompeo’s recent decision to assign …

The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine (FISU) reported on its website that it started the procedure for withdrawing from the Agreement on the principles and basic directions of cooperation between security agencies and intelligence services, which was signed by the CIS member states in 1992.

"The participation of Ukrainian intelligence in this agreement along with the Russian special services is absurd, given the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, which has been …

The European Union allocated 500 million euro of the first tranche of macro-financial assistance to Ukraine, stated Vice-President of the European Commission Valdis Dombrovskis on Twitter. He also noted that the European Union continues to actively support Ukraine.

Later, a source in the Ministry of Finance confirmed that money has been transferred to Ukraine.

On November 16, Ukraine completed the ratification of the agreement on receiving 1 billion euro from the EU. The allocation of macro- …