• Ukraine supports OSCE's intention to have monitors working round-the-clock in the Donbas

    The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine supports the OSCE's intention to ensure round-the-clock operations of the organization’s monitors in the Donbas, as stated by the Chief of the General Staff Viktor Muzhenko, who met with the head of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission, Ertugrul Apakan.

    "We support the intention of the OSCE SMM to provide additional equipment to its observers and to deploy advanced observation posts in the occupied territories of the Donbas", the Defense Ministry' …

  • Russian, Iranian, and Turkish delegations arrive in Astana for Syria peace talks

    The delegations of Iran, Russia, and Turkey have arrived in the capital of Kazakhstan, Astana, for Syrian peace talks which are scheduled to begin on January 23rd, the Kazakh Foreign Ministry’s spokesman, Anuar Zhainakov, told TASS.

    "By now, the delegations of Russia, Turkey and Iran have arrived," Zhainakov said.

    The UN Special Envoy for Syria, Staffan de Mistura, as well as members of the Syrian opposition’s delegation have also arrived.

    The Syrian government delegation is expected to …

  • International Biathlon Union opens doping investigation into Russian biathletes

    The International Biathlon Union (IBU) has started a formal investigation into the Russian Biathlon Union in connection with the new allegations concerning mass doping usage in Russian sports, which are provided in the second part of a report written by the World Anti-Doping Agency’s expert Richard McLaren, Deutsche Welle reported.

    The appropriate decree was issued on Saturday, January 21st, following the IBU Executive Board meeting in Rasen-Antholz in the north of Italy.

    During the meeting, …

  • Lukashenko orders that a replacement for Russian oil be found

    The President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, ordered the state to replace Russian oil supplies with alternate suppliers, as was reported on Friday, 20 January, by BelTa.

    It is noted that the order was given against the background of a reduction in Russian oil supplies to Belarus.

    “There is no catastrophe, but reduced Russian oil supplies should be replaced with alternative sources,” the head of the country stated. According to him, new routes have been not only worked out, but also tested. …

  • Russia has signed an agreement with Syria to expand Russian Navy base in Tartus

    The Russian Federation’s naval facility in the Syrian port city of Tartus will be expanded, as was stipulated in an agreement between Russia and Syria, which was signed in Damascus on January 18 and published on the Russian government's website of legal information on Friday, January 20. The agreement is valid for 49 years and will be automatically extended for successive 25-year periods unless one of the parties informs the other party about its intention to terminate it no less than one year …