The US Department of Defense has notified the Congress that it intends to stop the purchase of Russian MI-17 helicopters for its mission in Afghanistan, stating that it plans to purchase helicopters manufactured in the US.

The decision was made public by Senator Chris Murphy.

“I will never understand why the US government sends over the money of the American taxpayers to Russia paying for the purchase of the helicopters for Afghanistan while Russia supports Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria …

Ukrainian Ambassador to the US, Valeriy Chaly, stated that Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko intends to visit Washington next year shortly after the inauguration of the new US president, Donald Trump, Krym.Realii reported.

Chaly noted that they will try to arrange it so Poroshenko will travel to Washington as early as February, and if a meeting can be arranged, it “will be a big victory for Ukraine.”

According to the ambassador, arranging such a meeting is ambitious, but not unrealistic. …

Over the last three days, air strikes by the Syrian and Russian air forces on the Syrian opposition in Aleppo have taken 106 civilian lives. This was reported by the Turkish Anadolu news agency citing representatives of the Syrian Civil Defense.

According to the sources of the agency, 200 civilians were injured as a result of these air strikes.

“The Russian and Syrian air force have been carrying air raids targeting the eastern parts of Aleppo,” Najib al-Ansari, an Aleppo-based civil defense …

Switzerland has expanded its list of people who will not be able to bypass the US and EU sanctions imposed because of aggression by the Russian Federation in Ukraine, according to the Swiss state secretariat for economic affairs.

The names of six people who were recently elected as deputies of the State Duma of the Russian Federation in the Crimea and Sevastopol were added to the list.

“On November 17, 2016, the Federal Department of Economics, Education and Research (EAER) amended the list …

Belarus is ready to take control over the Ukrainian-Russian border in the Donbas and organize local elections on the territories not controlled by Ukraine, as stated by the President of Belarus, Alexander Lukashenko, during a conversation with the media and bloggers from Russia, Tut.by reports.

"I spoke with Putin and told him that whatever the cost, we need to come up with something to begin the resolution process ... There will be no winners in this war. The longer the conflict lasts, the …