Russian Embassy in Damascus comes under mortar attack
The Russian Embassy in Damascus has come under mortar fire, as reported by Russia’s RIA news agency citing the Press Service of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“One shell, which luckily didn’t explode, fell into one of the courtyards of the embassy’s compound. The second one fell in the close proximity to the embassy’s walls. Demining specialists had to be called in to neutralize the unexploded shells,” the Ministry of Foreign affairs stated.
The Ministry notes that the incident …
US Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham to visit Ukraine
Two Members of the US Senate Armed Services Committee, John McCain and Lindsey Graham, will visit Ukraine on December 30th and 31st, Interfax-Ukraine reported.
The two Republican Senators will also visit Latvia, Lithuania, Georgia, and Montenegro.
Speaking in Estonia on Tuesday, McCain said US-NATO relations will not change once Donald Trump is sworn in as president.
Lavrov warned Kerry that providing opposition with MANPADS could lead to an exacerbation of the situation in Syria
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry that supplying the armed opposition with man-portable air defense systems might lead to an exacerbation of the situation in Syria.
Lavrov noted, "the permission to supply the anti-government units with arms, including MANPADS,” which was included into United States Defense Bill, "may lead to further escalation of tensions and more casualties."
Kerry and Lavrov discussed questions regarding the settlement of the …
Polish gas company says agreement between European Commission and Gazprom has been suspended
The Polish national gas operator PGNiG said that the new agreement between the European Commission and the Russian company Gazprom on the use of the OPAL gas pipeline is suspended as of Tuesday, December 27th. This is due to the fact that the European Court in Luxembourg accepted the lawsuit, filed by PGNiG, against Brussels’ new treaty with Moscow. Thus, the new agreement will be frozen until a court in Luxembourg decides on the case.
The European Court of Justice has not yet commented on the …
McCain called on NATO to tune in to Russia’s aggressive behavior
According to the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Armed Services, John McCain, the election of Donald Trump as the president of the United States was a surprise, but this result will not affect the US - NATO relationship. According to McCain, who was speaking in the Estonian capital of Tallinn, NATO should prepare for Russia’s possibly aggressive behavior.
When he touched upon the issue of cyber security, he stated that, "there is no doubt that the Russians were engaged in hacking, but …