Accordingly to Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, the European Union has already agreed to extend sanctions against Russia which are due to expire on January 31st, 2017, TASS reported.

Upon her arrival at the EU summit in Brussels, Grybauskaite stated, "All member states understand that it is inevitable [the extension of sanctions]."

"The written procedure is already in place," she noted.

According to Russia’s ambassador to the European Union, Vladimir Chizhov, "This simple story has …

The Head of the Island Council’s Technical Board, Tommy Gardell, stated that the Swedish island of Gotland will not give permission to use Slite harbor for pipe storage during the installation of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, Meduza reported, referencing consultations between the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defense of Sweden.

The Heads of the Ministries informed the representatives of Gotland that keeping pipes in the port could have a negative effect on the country’s …

The head of the Russian State Duma Defense Committee, Vladimir Shamanov, announced plans to spread out the first battalion of the Airborne Troops (VDV) division in the occupied Crimea, as reported by TASS

According to Shamanov, the decision has already been made and the battalion will be deployed in the city of Dzhankoy in 2017.

"In accordance with the decision of the board of the RF Ministry of Defense, the formation of a separate battalion of the 97th Airborne Assault Regiment in Dzhankoy, …

The European Union member countries will decide on the extension of anti-Russian sanctions early next week.

According to a high-ranking EU official in Brussels, this will be done “in accordance with the proposal of the President of France, François Hollande, and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.”

As was confirmed by TASS, citing a source in the German Government, sanctions will likely be extended immediately after the meeting. “If the leaders make this decision, it will be possible to extend …

The US administration called the aggravation of the situation in Aleppo an atrocity, blaming President Bashar al-Assad and the countries supporting him. The White House demanded an immediate ceasefire to allow civilians to get access to humanitarian help.

As Urkinform reported, the White House Press Secretary, Josh Earnest, said at a press conference on Wednesday that, "I think Assad's regime has demonstrated that they have crossed all lines to achieve their goals. And this obviously involves …

Weapons captured in Palmyra by militants of the so-called Islamic State pose a threat to the military coalition led by the United States. This, as reported by the BBC, was said by the US Army Lieutenant General Stephen Townsend, commander of the forces of the international coalition against the so-called Islamic State.

According to Townsend, the militants, when capturing Palmyra, allegedly seized armored vehicles and air defense systems.

He added that there is information that indicates these …

The Commanding General the United States Army in Europe, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, announced that 4,000 U.S. soldiers will be relocated to Poland as part of the NATO Atlantic Resolve mission in January 2017. During his visit to the Bundeswehr Academy in Osterholz-Scharmbeck (Lower Saxony), General Hodges said that the port of Bremerhaven in northern Germany is going to serve as a crossing base.

At the NATO summit in Warsaw in July 2016, it was decided to place four of the Alliance’s …

Russian Presidential Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov stated that the Russian Federation wants to restart its relations with the United States, including dialogues on sensitive issues.

“As for Donald Trump, we hope that we will have the opportunity to hold a dialogue with him. The President of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin repeatedly stated that we would like to have a dialogue with the United States, restart relations with this country in different areas including sensitive issues,” …