Russian Gazprom and Naftogaz of Ukraine will sign an agreement to settle all reciprocal claims relating to their current contracts in accordance with the gas cooperation protocol, Gazprom CEO Alexey Miller told the press on Saturday, December 21. “The settlement agreement envisages the waiver of new claims, the withdrawal of arbitration and court claims for which there are no final decisions, and payment in accordance with the final decision of the Stockholm Arbitration Institute,” the Interfax …

Protests against deeper integration with the Russian Federation continued in Minsk on Saturday, December 21. Even though the authorities did not approve the rally, no one was detained.

Just over a hundred people attended the demonstration. People were holding national white-red-white flags, shouting the slogans "long live Belarus!" and "No alliances with Imperial Russia." "No Union with the aggressor," said one of the posters of opponents of Belarusian integration with Russia

The protesters …

The Norwegian Defense Ministry reported that recent radio interference in the country has been caused by  the tests of the Russian frigate.

According to the Aftenposten newspaper, there are failures in the work of radio equipment in the last few days in Northern Norway, including the Finnmark region, which is on the border with Russia. According to the Norwegian Communications Authority, the interference is linked to the tests of the Russian frigate Admiral Flota Kasatonov in the Barents Sea. …

Russian frigate Admiral Essen, which is equipped with Kalibr cruise missiles, is on its way from Sevastopol to the Mediterranean Sea, reports Interfax, citing the press service of the Russian Black Sea Fleet.

Currently, the crew of the ship passes the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. The press service reports that it is expected that frigate will become part of the Russian Navy’s forces in the far sea zone.

Russian flotilla has been permanently deployed to the Mediterranean Sea . It includes …

The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that US sanctions against companies that are participating in the construction of the Russ an Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline are aimed at European countries, not Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry claims that the sanctions in the US National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) 2020 are aimed at depriving Europe of guaranteed sources of energy supplies from Russia.

"Moreover, the desire to harm Russian exports is not the only and not even the main thing. To no …

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense announced its intention to upgrade the fleet of the Ukrainian Air Forces by purchasing American attack helicopters Boeing AH-64 Apache, reports Ukrainian military news website Ukrainian Military Pages.

Ukrainian officials believe that the existing gaps in the capabilities of the Ukrainian army and the Ukrainian defense industry can be eliminated by purchasing modern Western-made weapons. Therefore, in addition to the AH-64 Apache helicopters, it is proposed to …

After talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said that the parties have conceptually agreed on the supply of energy, and specific prices will be determined soon, reports BelTA news agency.

The Belarusian President noted that he does not rule out a new meeting with his Russian counterpart before the end of this year or early next year. "We have a couple of problems that we need to resolve, these are presidential issues," said …

Ukrainian President’s Aide Andriy Yermak said that after the gas transit talks in Minsk, the Russian side agreed to pay Ukraine $3 billion of compensation according to the ruling of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, reports Hromadske.

"We are returning home with excellent news, and we will have a transit contract on favorable terms for Ukraine. Thanks to these arrangements, Ukraine will receive $3 billion according to the ruling of the Stockholm arbitration court," …