• Lavrov and Tillerson discussed future talks on Syria in Astana

    On May 1st, TASS reported that Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had a telephone conversation with U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson. The diplomats discussed, among other things, a meeting in Astana dedicated to the Syrian settlement, the press service of the Russian Foreign Ministry reported.

    "The foreign ministers briefly exchanged views on the international meeting on Syria held in Astana on May 3rd and 4th," the Ministry's statement says.

    Other aspects of bilateral relations were …

  • Media: US deploys Global Hawk drones to Japan from base on Guam

    The United States has begun to move five Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from Andersen Air Force Base on the island of Guam. The arrival of the first such drone to the Yokota Air Base in Tokyo was filmed by the Japanese NHK television channel.

    More than 100 American technicians will also travel there to maintain and service the drones.  The UAVs will be deployed in Japan temporarily, until October of this year. The decision that it would be a temporary deployment was based on the …

  • Seoul: U.S. does not require payment for missile defense system placed in South Korea

    South Korea only needs to provide the land for the deployment of the American THAAD missile defense system, Yonhap News Agency reported, citing sources in the South Korean military.

    U.S. National Security Advisor Herbert McMaster, in a telephone conversation with his South Korean counterpart, confirmed that Seoul will not incur expenses in connection with the deployment of THAAD.

    Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he wanted South Korea to pay one billion dollars for the THAAD …

  • Polish authorities arrested an Austrian suspected of committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine

    Polish authorities reported on April 30th that they have arrested an Austrian suspected of committing war crimes in eastern Ukraine, as reported by Radio Liberty.

    According to the Polish Border Guard, a 25-year-old man was detained at the Dorohusk Polish border checkpoint three days ago as he tried to cross the border into Ukraine. Austria is now requiring him to be extradited.

    The detainee, the Polish border guards indicate, is suspected of "killing the wounded and prisoners," which is a war …

  • Girkin claims that Le Pen visited separatist financier Malofeev

    Former pro-Russian separatist commander Igor Girkin, also known as Strelkov, wrote on his page in Vkontakte social network regarding French Presidential Candidate Marine Le Pen. He claimed that in 2013, Le Pen visited the office of businessman Konstantin Malofeev, who became known in 2014 in connection with the war in the Donbas.

    "They ask about my attitude towards Marine Le Pen, her chances of winning, etc. What to say? I saw her once, when she visited Malofeev's office in 2013. But I did not …