• Merkel: Sanctions against Russia will be extended because of failure to implement Minsk Agreements

    German Chancellor Angela Merkel stated at a briefing on the results of European Council meeting in Brussels that the extension of sanctions against Russia is connected with the implementation of Minsk Agreements, RIA Novosti reported.

    “Both the President of France, François Hollande, and I reported once again on the degree of the implementation of the Minsk Agreements. We pointed out that the extension of sanctions is unfortunately necessary in connection with the level of implementation. That …

  • Russia and the US blame each other for incident in the Mediterranean Sea

    The American and Russia navies have accused each other of performing unsafe maneuvers in the Mediterranean Sea. The incident involved the USS Gravely and a Russian Neustrashimyy-class frigate, the Yaroslav Mudry, Reuters reported.

    The Russian Ministry of Defense said that the commander and crew of the USS Gravely were in “gross violation” of international maritime agreements. The MoD stated that the USS Gravely approached the Yaroslav Mudry at a distance of 60-70 meters on the port side and …

  • Japan intercepts Russian planes near its borders

    Japanese military jest were scrambled to intercept two Russian Navy anti-submarine IL-38 planes off the Japanese Pacific coast. The incident was reported by the Command of the Self-Defense Force of Japan.

    The Russian planes approached the Japanese coast from the direction of Sakhalin Island, flew over the southern coast of the Kuril islands, then they made a detour to the east of the Japanese island of Honshu and followed the same route back. The incident took place on June 27.

    The Ilyushin …

  • Kiev denies reports that Ukraine resorted to emergency energy purchases from Russia

    Ukrainian authorities denied the reports that the government made emergency purchases of energy from the Russian Federation at high tariff rates. Kiev officials declared that Ukraine does not lack for power sources.

    The Minister of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine, Igor Nasalik, refuted the claims, explaining that Ukraine’s energy system doesn’t lack the capacity to provide power so it has no need of energy supplied from the Russian Federation.

    “Currently, we produce no less than two …

  • Ukrainian Intelligence: Russian soldiers arrived in Mariupol

    Mariupol’s press officer, Vitaly Kirilov, stated that technical intelligence sources captured and recorded radio transmissions indicating that four Russian KAMAZ trucks carrying Russian servicemen entered Mariupol’s territory as reported by 0629.ua, the news portal of the city of Mariupol.

    The Ukrainian military press service also reported that the separatist military forces are also undergoing training to control unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs. Practice launches of UAV flights have been …

  • Ex-president of Latvia: There are forces in the EU that want to lift sanctions on Russia

    There are forces in Europe that wish to lift the sanctions against Russia and continue trading with the country, according to the former President of Latvia, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga.

    Replying to the question of whether the UK exit from the European Union could affect the sanctions against Russia, Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga noted that the sanctions in themselves have always been “a weapon of despair,” delfi.lv wrote.

    “The European Union acknowledged the need for sanctions and extended the term for …

  • Georgian Defense Ministry: NATO cannot ensure security in the Black Sea without the aid of Georgia

    The issue of the Black Sea’s security, which is being considered by NATO, cannot be successful without Georgia,a as expressed by the republic's Defense Minister, Tinatin Khidasheli, Interfax reports.

    "Today, NATO is actively working on the Black Sea security issue, and Georgia is participating in it. Any decision that will be adopted at the [NATO] summit in Warsaw will be made with Georgia. No matter whether Georgia is a member of NATO or not, this is the direction and challenge; we have …

  • US Ambassador in Moscow: NATO's actions are a response to Russia's aggression in Ukraine

    The United States Ambassador to the Russian Federation, John Tefft, stated that Russia has committed acts of aggression against Ukraine and all of NATO’s follow-up actions have been in response to that.

    On 27 June in an interview with Radio Svoboda, Tefft indicated that NATO is a defensive alliance. “It’s not an offensive organization,” he noted.

    According to him, NATO will remain the most effective defensive alliance.

    “The response that NATO has prepared for the summit...is a direct …

  • British Ambassador in Kiev: Brexit will not change the UK's support for Ukraine

    Britain’s exit from the European Union will not affect its support of, and assistance to, Ukraine.

    “What does a referendum in the UK mean for our policy with regard to Ukraine?” this was asked on the blog of the British Ambassador to the Ukraine, Judith Gough.

    According to her, the UK will continue to stand side-by-side with Ukraine.

    “The UK will continue to assist Ukraine in the fight against corruption, in particular by supporting the Prosecutor General’s Office and the National Anti- …

  • Hug: Minsk agreements are violated 8000 times each week

    The situation in eastern Ukraine has escalated since the beginning of the year with the Minsk Agreements being violated nearly 8,000 times in recent weeks.

    Inosmi.ru reported that this was stated by the Deputy Head of the Special OSCE monitoring mission in Donbas, Alexander Hug, during an interview with the Bild newspaper.

    “We started this year with a small number of violations of the ceasefire agreement. However, we have seen a steady increase in that number since that time. The largest …