Mikheil Saakashvili, who was detained on Friday evening, stated that he was starting a hunger strike, as reported by his lawyer, Ruslan Chornolutsky, on December 9th, at about 3 a.m. after the completion of investigative activities, UNIAN reports.

"Saakashvili has declared the start of an indefinite hunger strike. He will also oppose any attempt at force-feeding," the lawyer said.

Chornolutsky also added that if the court made the decision to impose preventive measures in the form of a 60-day …

Negotiations among the advisers of the leaders of the Normandy format countries ended in Minsk, as reported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belarus.The Press Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country, Dmitry Mironchik, relayed to BelTA, the meeting was held behind closed doors and lasted about four hours.

He did not give any other details and the parties have not yet commented on the course and results of the meeting.

The night before the talks, the Minister of Foreign …

Konstantin Kosachev, the Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Federation Council, has called the sanctions announced by US President Donald Trump against Russia for allegedly violating the treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles (INF Treaty) "the most cynical of all" US sanctions, RIA Novosti reports.

"Trump's new sanctions against Russia for the alleged violation of the treaty on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles ( …

Ukraine and Moldova have begun joint protection of the Ukrainian-Moldovan boundary bordering Transdniestria, as reported on the the State Border Service’s website.

"On December 7, for the first time, joint patrols of the Mohyliv-Podilskyi detachment began on a section of the Velyka Kisnytsya department, and continued along the ‘green’ border, guarded by the the Studena and Bolhan subdivisions. These units are guarding the state border of Ukraine with Transdniestria for a length of about 50 km," …

One of the leaders of the DPR, Igor Bezler (the former "commandant" of Horlivka with the call sign "Bes"), who currently lives in the annexed Crimea, talked to Dutch investigators (JIT) regarding the downed passenger flight, Boeing MH17, in July of 2014, Current Time reports.

He discussed the conversation online. The authenticity of the account, from which the correspondence was conducted, was confirmed by his interlocutors.

"In his testimony, Igor Bezler said he was not involved in the MH17 …

Lithuania calls upon Ukraine to ensure the independence of the National Anti-Corruption Bureau (NABU) from political influence, as stated by the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, at a joint briefing with Petro Poroshenko in Vilnius.

"Our main requirement for Ukraine is to ensure the independence of NABU in such a way that politicians cannot affect its work. At the same time, NABU should not in any way be involved in the political process," she said.

According to her, during a …

The Venice Commission did not support the accusations of Hungary in narrowing the rights of ethnic minorities in the Article on the language of education in the Ukrainian law, the press service of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine reports, citing the conclusions of the Venice Commission of December 8th.

"We are also grateful that the Commission accepted Ukraine’s argument regarding reproaches that the article on the language of the law "On Education" narrows the rights of the …

If the United States decides to unilaterally withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (Officially: Treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union and later its successor states on the elimination of their intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles, or INF Treaty) the Russian Federation promised to develop a “more powerful weapon,” a senator on the Russian Federation Council and former Commander of the Russian Aerospace Forces, Viktor Bondarev said, RIA.

Bondarev …