Speaking at a rally of the ruling party, United Russia, President of Russia Vladimir Putin stated that the Russian economy will grow faster than the world economy.

“Economic crises and foreign restrictions prevented us from achieving the task of our economy surpassing the world economy in terms of growth. But we must do this. And we will do this,” the President promised. Putin also said that he expected Russia to bridge the gap between it and the world’s leading countries in terms of GDP per …

Turkey has signed an agreement on the provision of $3 million in assistance to the Ukrainian army, Andrii Sybiha, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ukraine to Turkey, reported this on his Twitter page.

"A worthy end of the year; for the second year in a row, we are signing an agreement with Turkey on the provision of assistance to the Ukrainian army (this year in the amount of about 3 million USD). A strategic partnership in action, assistance is calculated for 5 years with an …

On December 22, the Moldovan parliament voted again for the bill banning Russian propaganda, which the country's president, Igor Dodon had previously refused to sign, reported Noi.md news website.

Maxim Lebedinsky, the Moldovan president’s legal advisor said that this project is contrary to the Constitution and has nothing to do with ensuring the information security of the country. He also stated that the provisions of the document contradicted the European Convention on Human Rights.

" …

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has agreed to pay $15 million to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the development of a global anti-doping system, as stated by the head of the ROC, Alexander Zhukov, reports TASS news agency.

"We will pay. There is a contractual process currently in process with the IOC, and a payment deadline will be established," he reported.

On December 5, 2017, the IOC Executive Committee decided to suspend the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee, …

Germany and France have called for Russian officers to return to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination (JCCC) of the ceasefire in the Donbas. A joint statement was signed on December 23 by German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron, reports Radio Liberty.

The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs also expressed anxiety over the withdrawal of Russian representatives from JCCC.

"This measure [is] yet another attempt at undermining security of the monitors’ work …

The President of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko called the US decision to allow the sale of lethal weapons to Ukraine a long long-awaited step.

 The president of Ukraine wrote on his Facebook page that the head of the US State Department Rex Tillerson confirmed the information about the sale of in a telephone conversation that took place on the evening of December 22.

At the same time, the report published on the website of the Ukrainian President does not mention the topic of the sale of weapons …

On the night of December 23, the accounts of Chechnyan leader Ramzan Kadyrov were removed from Instagram and Facebook; after this turn of events, Kadyrov announced the launch of a Chechen social network called Mylistory.

As reported by the publication TJ, Mylistory is an instagram clone available in the App Store and Google Play. Magomed Eskhanov is noted as the application developer. Externally, the application looks like a complete copy of the old version of the Instagram, in gold color and …

Ukraine should "stop provocations" against the Russian military so that Russian officers can rejoin the Joint Center for Control and Coordination or JCCC, stated the Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on International Affairs, Leonid Slutsky, RIA Novosti reported.

"For the return of Russian troops to the Joint Center for Control and Coordination of the Ceasefire in the Donbas, Kyiv must comply with all the conditions, first and foremost of which is putting an end to provocations …