Contents tagged with USA

  • Ukrainian Ministry of Defense plans to bring the Air Force up to NATO standards

    The First Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Ivan Rusnak, and the United States Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF), Deborah Lee James, discussed the development of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Censor.net quotes the Ministry’s press service as reporting that the meeting was held on Thursday, July 14, 2016 in Kiev.

    During the meeting, the parties discussed issues of bilateral cooperation towards developing Ukraine’s air force in the face of the current political and …

  • US may extend sanctions against Russia

    The U.S. Congress approved the draft law that strengthens anti-Russian sanctions, as stated in the report published on the website of the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs.

    It was reported that the Committee endorsed the draft law on the support of stability and democracy in Ukraine that provides for deterrence of Russian aggression in Ukraine and assistance in holding democratic transformations. The draft law will be submitted for consideration of the House of …

  • US representative in the OSCE accused Russia of hypocrisy

    On Thursday, at a meeting of the OSCE Permanent Council in Geneva, the U.S. Representative to the OSCE, Ambassador Daniel Baer, referred to the Russian actions that instigate the continued conflict in eastern Ukraine in recent days as obstructionism, incitement and hypocrisy, Ukrinform reports.

    "Over the past week, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have suffered the heaviest losses since the signing of the ceasefire agreement in September 2015," the representative of the United States said.

    He …

  • US Senate confirms Marie Yovanovitch as Ambassador to Ukraine

    The US Senate has approved the appoint of Marie Yovanovitch as the next Ambassador to Ukraine, Evropeyskaya Pravda reported, referencing New York Times journalist David M. Herszenhorn.

    Yovanovitch will replace Geoffrey Pyatt, who has been appointed the next US Ambassador to Greece.

    “Marie L. Yovanovitch confirmed by Senate as US ambassador to Ukraine replacing Geoff Pyatt at crucial juncture in country's history,” Herszenhorn wrote on Twitter.

    Since 2012, Yovanovitch has served as Principal …

  • American officials criticize Kerry’s plan for coordination with Russia

    American officials from the intelligence and defense sectors criticized US Secretary of State John Kerry’s proposal for coordination between the US and Russia in Syria, The New York Times reports.

    Even though Kerry believes in possible cooperation with Moscow, many representatives from American intelligence agencies and the Pentagon are suspicious of this plan.

    According to one of the officials, it remains unclear why Kerry is confident that Russia will support the White House’s goals in …

  • Ukrainian police begin joint exercises with the FBI

    U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) instructors and Ukrainian Special Forces unit KORD (Corps of Prompt Immediate Action) have begun joint drills for the benefit of the Special Forces police and the National Anti-Corruption Bureau of Ukraine.

    According to the press service of the National police, FBI instructors will demonstrate the basic training for SWAT police units in special operations. The course of exercises includes FBI detention tactics and closed-room activities.

    The program …

  • The United States could increase the amount of its military hardware in Europe

    The United States could increase the volume of its military equipment deployed in Europe in the framework of its assistance program for the European Allies. This was announced on Wednesday, July 13 by the head of global planning in the US Army, TOS Taipa, RIA Novosti reported.

    “If the program continues, then [during the next few years], we could fulfill additional requirements on ensuring Europe's defense capabilities,” he said, noting that it could be the deployment of the engineering …

  • US Department of Agriculture increases forecast of Ukraine's crop and grain harvest

    In July, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) increased the forecast of Ukraine’s crops and grain harvest for the year 2016-2017. According to a report on the USDA website, the grain harvest will be up to 61.225 million tons, an increase of 2.4%. Grain exports will be up to 33.63 million tons, an increase of 3%.

    The forecast of the corn crop was unchanged at the level of 26 million tons. The barley harvest forecast was increased from 8.65 million tons to 9.1 million tons. …

  • US and Ukraine to conduct joint naval drills

    According to information released on the Defense Ministry’s website, Ukraine and USA will conduct joint naval drills called Sea Breeze 2016 beginning in Ukraine on July 18.

    “The topic of current naval drills is the conduct of multinational operations on security in the crisis region,” the Ministry of Defense noted. Maneuvers will take place in the Odessa and Mykolaiv regions as well as in the northwestern part of the Black Sea.

    It was also mentioned in the Defense Ministry’s report that the …

  • US Black Hawk helicopters and soldiers to arrive in Latvia

    Five US Black Hawk helicopters and 60 US soldiers will arrive in Latvia on Wednesday and Thursday in support of the Strong Europe initiative and Operation Atlantic Resolve, Delfi reported, referencing a statement issued by the Latvian Armed Forces.

    "On July 13 and 14, several US armed forces helicopters will be transferred from the port of Riga to the Latvian Lielvārde air base. Over 60 US soldiers from the 501st aviation battalion and five UH-60 'Black Hawk' helicopters will arrive in Latvia …