Lukashenko’s special operation to force the landing of a Ryanair plane in Minsk using combat aviation risks turning into a tightening of Western sanctions against Belarus, including expulsion from the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and ban on civil flights over its territory.

The operation, which resulted in the detention of Roman Protasevich, founder and former editor-in-chief of the Telegram channel NEXTA, is an act of "state terrorism," Manfred Weber, head of the European …

Russian President Vladimir Putin is ready to discuss cooperation on Crimea with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky not the ownership of Crimea, said the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov on air of Rossiya 1 TV channel.

"If we discuss Crimea in terms of the development of cross-border cooperation, you know, Russia has cross-border cooperation with other countries, in this regard, I am sure that Putin will be ready," Peskov said.

Peskov added that "no one will ever …

The founder of the opposition Telegram channel Nexta, Roman Protasevich, has been detained in Minsk. Protasevich was on board a Ryanair flight en route from Athens to Vilnius. The plane had to land at the national airport in Minsk after receiving a report that there was an explosive device on board.

On Lukashenko's order, a fighter jet was scrambled to escort the passenger plane with Protasevich on board, reports the pro-government Belarusian Telegram channel "Pool of the First." Lukashenko …

The threat of a full-fledged currency crisis in Belarus forces the self-proclaimed President, Alexander Lukashenko, to make concessions on the key direction of integration with Russia, in which he has been holding defense for years. This is the ability to control and print his own national currency.

After the imposition of US sanctions, which cut off the Belarusian economy from a fifth of export revenues, Lukashenko began to cautiously hint at the need to help maintain the Belarusian ruble …

The enemies are trying to limit Russia's development, but, thanks to its armed forces, the country can respond harshly to all of them, President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting of the organizing committee "Victory".

According to him, always the same thing happens. As soon as Russia becomes stronger, they find reasons to limit its development.

"Everyone wants to bite us or to bite a piece off us," Putin said. "But those who are going to do it need to know, that we'll knock out their teeth so …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was considering holding a nationwide referendum on a settlement in the Donbas, UNIAN reports.

"Regarding the national referendum, I believe that this should be the most important issue that we have today. I believe that this is the situation in the Donbas," said Zelensky at a press conference.

According to Zelensky, this will take some time as Kyiv has several plans to end the war and take back the occupied territories and people. "We will …

Joseph Biden’s administration imposed and immediately suspended sanctions against the operator of the Nord Stream 2 project, Nord Stream 2 AG, and its CEO Matthias Warnig, according to the State Department’s report sent to Congress on Wednesday, May 19. U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Robert Menendez confirmed that the document had been received.

“I have determined that it is in the national interest of the United States to waive the application of sanctions on Nord Stream 2 …

The Russian Central Bank does not see the risks of Russia being disconnected from the system of inter-bank payment SWIFT, said the first deputy chairperson of the Russian Central Bank, Olga Skorobogatova, during the meeting of the State Duma Committee on the Financial Markets.

"At first, they speculated a lot about SWIFT, then it spilled over to Visa and Mastercard. From SWIFT point of view, a similar situation was in 2014, when some EU deputies spoke about it. We have direct contact with …