France increases its military presence in the Black Sea
French Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian, during his visit to Georgia, said that a French warship will soon arrive in Batumi. According to the Minister, this is one of the symbols of French-Georgian cooperation.
"The main message of my visit is that we are planning to increase the number of ships in the Black Sea. A warship will be located in Batumi, and this fact signifies the historic partnership between our countries, imbued with trust," the Minister said at the press conference.
The …
NATO exercises in Georgia end
Military exercises with the participation of NATO countries were completed in Georgia. Over 1,200 servicemen including dozens of soldiers and officers from the United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Latvia and Turkey took part in the Agile Spirit 2016 exercises that were conducted beginning on September 1st at the Orfolo range in southern Georgia, near the Turkish border.
Aircraft and artillery were actively used. The exercises were carried out in two phases: rifle training on the Orfolo …
Umerov: Crimean Tatars will not take part in Russian elections
The deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar’s Mejlis, Ilmi Umerov, stated that Crimean Tatars will not take part in the Russian State Duma elections on September 18 in the Crimea.
“It is absolutely clear that the majority of Crimean Tatars will not take part in the elections. We urge them to do that. The organization of elections in the occupied territories will result in recognition of the invalidity of Russian elections and these are huge costs [for Russia],” Umerov said.
On September 8, the …
US/Russia-backed Syrian ceasefire to begin at sundown
A country-wide ceasefire in Syria is scheduled to begin at sundown on Monday (approximately 12:00 EST). The United States and Russia both agreed to the parameters of the ceasefire, which call on the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to cease all combat operations against rebel groups. By doing so, Moscow and Washington hope to map out which areas are held by extremist forces such as the so-called Islamic State, and which are not.
US Secretary of State John Kerry, while announcing the …
Ukraine's Verkhovna Rada proposes banning use of names of separatist republics in media
A bill was submitted in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) calling to classify the names “DPR” (Donetsk People’s Republic) and “LPR” (Luhansk People’s Republic) as those which promote criminal organizations, which in turn would prohibit the use of the names in the media, 112.ua reported.
Instead of the abbreviations “DPR” and “LPR” the initiator of the bill proposes the terms “criminal organization, self-proclaimed in the territory of the Donetsk region” and “criminal organization, …