French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview with the news outlet RFI that he is ready for closer relations with Russia, despite Moscow's long history of conflicts with its neighbors.

When asked what event caused Emmanuel Macron to change his attitude towards Vladimir Putin and support a review of relations with Russia, the French president said that it was the result of long reflections.

"I would not say that it was a special event among others. It was a slow decision, a historical …

Contrary to reports from numerous sources in Russia’s Defense Ministry that Iran was seriously interested in Russian MiG-35 fighters, the Islamic republic’s government plans to use $1.5 of the $3 billion allocated by Qatar to purchase 36 Chinese Chengdu J-10C fighters, which are reportedly cheaper and more promising.

“The Emir (head of state) of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani arrived in Iran and met with the country’s president Rouhani in Tehran. Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani offered Iran $3 …

Belarus has sharply cut back on its transit of Russian oil to Europe in the wake of disagreements with Moscow regarding the tariffs for transit through the Druzhba pipeline, and several Russian oil companies’ decision to halt deliveries to Belarusian refineries, reports finanz.ru.

As of January 14, the transit volume through the Druzhba pipeline towards Poland has been halved to 70,000 tons per day, GomelTransNeft, the Belarusian pipeline operator, told Interfax.

“Between January 14 and 17 …

Ukraine has sent Iran a second request for international legal assistance, asking for access to the “black boxes” of the Ukraine International Airlines plane that was shot down in Iran, and for Ukrainian experts to be allowed to help decipher them. However, no response has been received, said Polina Chyzh, head of the Department of International Legal Cooperation and Asset Recovery at the Prosecutor General’s office, during a session of the Verkhovna Rada committee on national security and …

Russian President Vladimir Putin has proposed that Mikhail Mishustin, Head of the Federal Tax Service, should become the next prime minister. According to the official Kremlin website, he put forward the suggestion during a work meeting.

Mikhail Mishustin agreed to the proposal, and so Putin put forward Mishustin’s candidature for consideration by the State Duma.

A doctor of economics, Mikhail Mishustin is 53 years of age, and has headed the tax service for nearly 10 years. He is married with …

For the first time ever, Putin’s address to the Federal Assembly took place immediately after the New Year’s holidays. During his address, he announced that he was proposing “a number of constitutional changes” which could be the most far-reaching amendments ever made to Russia’s constitution, which was adopted in 1993.

Several hours later, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev announced that his cabinet would be resigning, saying that “the government should give the president the opportunity to make …

The United States could allocate to Ukraine more than $1 billion of assistance, said Ukrainian Ambassador to the US Volodymyr Yelchenko at a press conference, as cited by RBC Ukraine.

According to him, $250 million has already been allocated, and another $50 million will be allocated if certain conditions are met in the implementation of the first part, and another $50 million remains from previous years.

“Overall, in 2020 the allocation is envisaged of $250 million from the Pentagon and …

Belarus has sent offers to purchase oil to enterprises in Ukraine, Poland, the Baltics, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, said Belarusian First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Krutoy, as cited by Belta. According to him, the commercial services of the Belarusian Oil Company’s plants are involved in daily negotiations regarding possible oil deliveries.

Latvia has already said that it is willing to participate in reverse oil deliveries to Belarus, said Latvian Ambassador to Minsk Einars Semanis ahead of a …