The first Russian helicopter carrier could be delivered to the Russian Navy within as little as four years, its construction has already been included in the state weapons program, said Russian Deputy Defense Minister Yuriy Borisov, as reported by TASS.

“The construction cycle of a helicopter carrier is a minimum of four years, well, somewhere towards 2022,” he said during the HeliRussia 2017 exhibition, in response to reporters’ questions on when the Russian helicopter carrier could be built. …

The North Atlantic Alliance will continue to provide practical and political support to Ukraine, as stated by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Thursday, Interfax-Ukraine reports.

"When it comes to Ukraine, it was clearly stated by many allies – and the whole Alliance is behind the message – that we are going to continue to strengthen our close partnership with Ukraine to provide practical support and political support," he said at a press conference in Brussels.

He noted that the …

The termination of passenger rail transportation between Ukraine and Russia was not considered at the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine.

"The issue of stopping passenger transportation by rail to Russia was not considered at the meeting of the National Security and Defense Council," the NSDC press service stated, responding to a request from Interfax-Ukraine.

Russian newspaper "Kommersant" cited several sources close to the government of Ukraine, reporting that …

Russia is concerned about the increase in military spending by Donald Trump’s administration within NATO by 40% in 2018, Russia's permanent representative to the alliance Alexander Grushko said on the television station Rossiya 24.

“What worries us right now is that the Trump administration asked for $4.8 billion for next year for the so-called Allied Reassurance Initiative. This year, the funding amounted to $3.7 billion. This means a 40 percent increase,” he said.

According to Grushko, this …

Tehran is not in favor of the U.S. military participating in guarding de-escalation zones in Syria, said Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council Ali Shamkhani.

“No,” he said in an interview with the newspaper Kommersant in answer to a question about whether Iran would have agreed to America participating in guarding de-escalation zones.

Shamkhani stressed that “Syria has a government, and only it can decide who has the right to be present in their territory….The Americans, who …