Kremlin: Kosovo army is a serious security threat to Balkans
The plans to create a Kosovo army, supported by the leading NATO states, seriously endanger the security of the Balkan region, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on January 17 during a press conference on the results of Russian diplomatic activity in 2019.
The Russian Foreign Ministry believes that these plans are a gross violation of UN Security Council resolution 1244, which demands the demilitarization of any armed groups of Kosovan Albanians.
“Many times we have drawn and will continue to …
Poland: Soviet Union confiscated culturally important Polish artworks
The Polish Foreign Ministry said on Twitter that the Soviet Union’s actions during World War II caused “tremendous losses” to Polish Culture.
“Special divisions of the NKVD (Soviet Union interior ministry) stole valuable works of Polish culture – many of them are still in Russia,” the department tweeted.
The ministry cited examples of works that were confiscated by the Red Army. These include Lucas Cranach the Elder’s “Madonna and Child” (Głogowska), Antoine Pesne’s “Girl with a Dove”, and …
Ukraine and Georgia accuse Russia of obstructing navigation and rescue operations in the Black and Azov Seas
Ukraine and Georgia have complained to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) regarding “unlawful Russian activity”, which is reportedly interfering with search and rescue operations in the Black and Azov seas.
According to the Ukrainian embassy in the UK, the complaint has been supported by delegations from EU countries and the US.
Kyiv has also sent an objection to the IMO, accusing Russia of “unlawfully extending the Novorossiysk region’s NAVTEX radio station service to the Sea of …
Iran postpones transfer of downed plane’s black boxes to Ukraine
Despite the previous statements, the Iranian authorities do not intend to hand over to Ukraine "black boxes" from the Ukraine International Airlines plane, which was shot down by an Iranian military missile on January 8, announced on January 19 the head of the investigation department of the Iranian Civil Aviation Organization Hassan Rezaifar, Irna news agency reports.
According to him, Tehran decided to postpone the transfer of "black boxes" from the downed Ukrainian Boeing 737 aircraft …
US forces block Russian military from entering an oil field in Syria
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reports that a convoy of about 40 Russian troops which was heading for the town of Tall Tamr was stopped by a U.S. patrol.
"This caused a state of tension between both parties," SOHR writes. As a result, the Russians retreated and headed towards the city of Ain Issa.
According to the Turkish news agency Anodolu, the U.S. troops thwarted an attempt by the Russian military to proceed to the Rumeylan oil field in the northeastern part of Hasakah …