NATO urged Russia to withdraw its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent regions

RIA Novosti reported that the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel urged Russia to "withdraw recognition" of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"We call on Russia to withdraw its recognition of independence of the two regions and to express respect for Georgian borders," InterpressNews news agency quotes him as saying after the meeting with Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria.

Pavel also believes that Russia should be involved in safeguarding the security of the Black Sea. " …


Russian Foreign Ministry accuses US military in Baltic States of anti-Russian activity

Maria Zakharova, the official spokesperson of the Russian Foreign Ministry, accused US troops stationed in the Baltic States of being actively involved in “provocative actions in Eastern Europe.”

“It cannot be ignored that US troops that have recently arrived in Poland and the Baltic States have engaged in ‘historical activities’ with clear anti-Russian intentions,” said Zakharova, who was quoted on the website of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Zakharova pointed out to “a memorial …


Proposed U.S. military aid to Ukraine may be cut in half

The United States House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations prepared a draft defense budget that promises to allocate $150 million to support the armed forces of Ukraine, according to a document posted on the House of Representatives website.

The project proposal states that the money must be spent on training, equipment, lethal defensive weapons, logistics and intelligence. A separate paragraph makes clear that the funds allocated to Ukraine cannot be spent on the purchase or …


Ukraine is ready to sign a memorandum with the IMF paving the way for the fourth tranche

On the evening of March 1st, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) sent Ukraine the final version of the Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies under an Extended Fund Facility (EFF). Its signing will allow the Fund to consider the allocation of a fourth tranche to Ukraine amounting to $1 billion within the program as announced on Thursday, March 2nd, by the Chairwoman of the National Bank of Ukraine (NBU), Valeriya Hontareva, during a press conference in Kyiv. "On the part of the NBU, …


Bellingcat has found new data about the role of former Russian officer in the downing of MH17

The international group of investigators from Bellingcat has released new data about the involvement of the former Russian officer, Sergey Dubinsky, also known as Khmuryi (Grumpy), in the use of a Russian Buk missile system in the occupied Donbas. In 2014, a Malaysian airliner was shot down from this Buk missile system and all 298 passengers on board were killed.Since the publication of their preliminary report last month, investigators have obtained new data that additionally confirms the …