Following a Higher State Council meeting of the Union State, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko signed a joint statement, the Kremlin’s press-service reports.  

“Following the meeting of the Higher State Council of the Union State, leaders of both countries adopted a joint statement in which they confirmed their common desire to strengthen and expand the strategic partnership between Russia and Belarus,” the statement reads.

As part of this …

Section 1233 of the bill for the US defense budget for 2019 as approved by the Senate proposes the allocation of $200 million to cover “the continuation of initiatives to support Ukraine in the sphere of security," Ukrinform reports.

The bill does acknowledge the need "to maintain strong support of Ukraine in the sphere of security, including the provision of lethal assistance of defensive nature, and at the same time to facilitate the necessary institutional reforms in the field of defense." …

International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Christine Lagarde has welcomed the establishment of a High Anti-Corruption Court in Ukraine, as noted in a statement by the Managing Director of the IMF following a telephone conversation with the Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko.

“I am very encouraged by the adoption of the law on the High Anti-Corruption Court (HACC) by the Ukrainian parliament, which is an important step forward in the authorities’ fight against corruption. The new law …