To participate in joint Russian-Tajik exercises, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation will send Tu-95MS strategic bombers to Tajikistan. TASS announced the development citing a message from the Ministry of Defense itself.In addition to the Tu-95MS, the crews of the Tu-22MZ rocket carriers will also fly to Tajikistan. The aircraft will fly for several hours, after which they will hit targets at the Kharbmaydon, Momirac and Moscovian ranges.Command and staff exercises to manage the …

Moldovan President Igor Dodon initiated a referendum for citizens of the country to express their opinions regarding the expansion of the powers of the head of state. The order was signed on Tuesday, March 28th, during a press conference where the results of Dodon's last 100 days as president were summed up.

The referendum will ask whether the President should be granted the right to dissolve the parliament and organize quick elections.

In addition, three more issues will be raised on the …

The UN Security Council has begun to discuss the continuing aggravation of the situation in Georgia, primarily in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, as a result of Russia’s provocative actions. The talks were initiated by Ukraine at Georgia’s request on March 28.

Volodymyr Yelchenko, the Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the United Nations reported the matter as part of exclusive commentary to LB.ua.

The Ukrainian delegation drew the Security Council’s attention to the so-called "Parliamentary …

The U.S. Senate voted overwhelmingly in favor of approving Montenegro's bid to join NATO, thus opening the way for the Balkan country to join the Alliance, as reported by Radio Liberty.

"On March 27, 97 senators voted to end the debate and allow voting at the end of this week to ratify Montenegro's membership in NATO. Only Republican Senators Rand Paul and Mike Lee voted against the accession," the report said.

The final vote will be held in the upper house of Congress. As soon as this …

On March 27, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko signed a law to introduce changes to the anti-corruption law [which also regulates the electronic declaration of income by officials and politicians], which the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted on March 23. In connection with the new amendments, soldiers are exempt from filling in a declaration. However, NGO representatives are obligated to report on their income. After signing the law, the president suggested that NGO representatives form a …

Ukrainian intelligence has no information about the trip of Putin's Press Secretary, Dmitry Peskov, to Luhansk. However, there is information about the arrival of an adviser to Vladimir Putin,Vladislav Surkov, as reported by Ukrainskaya Pravda  with reference to sources in intelligence.

"According to our information, Surkov arrived in the occupied territories on March 28," the interlocutor clarified. "We do not have information about Peskov's arrival."

In turn, the representative of the …

Iranian authorities have decided to allow Russia to use Iranian military bases to make air strikes on militants of the Islamic State in Syria “in specific cases.”

This was told to Reuters by Iranian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohammad Javad Zarif.

“Russia does not have a military base in Iran, we have a good relationship, and in specific instances when Russia needs to use Iranian facilities to fight terrorism, we will consider the matter,” Zarif said.

According to the minister, regional …

Turkey has introduced import duties on Russian products, Izvestia reports with reference to the Russian Ministry of Agriculture. The duty on corn and wheat will be 130%, on rice – 45%, on sunflower oil – 36%, on sunflower meal - 13.5%, and on legumes - 9.7%. Fees are introduced from March 15, 2017. At the same time on March 17 Turkish government agencies did not confirm the introduction of restrictions on the supply of Russian wheat.

The Russian Ministry of Agriculture stated that duties …