US President Donald Trump has signed a package of sanctions, which were previously approved by Congress and the Senate, against companies involved in the construction of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. The bill came into effect. The punitive measures are included in the new US National Defense Authorization Act for 2020, which Trump signed on December 21.

The bill provides for restrictions against foreign companies providing vessels for the construction of Nord Stream 2 and TurkStream …

The Secretariat of the Energy Community of the EU and neighboring countries has confirmed that the newly established operator, Ukraine’s gas transport system (GTS), has been separated from Naftogaz in accordance with the requirements of European legislation.

The secretariat said in a statement that the decision was based on a bill passed by Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada which unbundled the GTS from the national company Naftogaz of Ukraine. The bill was passed and si ned by the president in mid …

The Russian Armed Forces have replaced the broken “Oko-1” missile strike early warning group of satellites with satellites from the “Kupol” system, according to a press briefing given by Russian Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov to foreign military attachés on Wednesday.

The TASS news agency reports that, in his presentation, Gerasimov showed slides of the structure of Russia’s missile early warning system. A satellite was shown with the inscription “KA EKS Kupol” (Space Apparatus of the …

The Defense Ministry of Ukraine has announced the start of a program to train Ukrainian soldiers to fight under city conditions, said Lieut. Col. Vladislav Ponomarev, deputy head of combat training at the chief training directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), as cited by ArmyInform.

According to Ponomarev, this training will commence next year at the base of a new training complex, the construction of which has begun in the Lviv region. An entire “miniature city” will be built at the …

The US army has obtained the frequencies of the Russian S-400 anti-air defense systems stationed in Syria, reports the Russian publication Free News, citing the decorated Russian pilot Yuri Sytnik, a member of the Senior Officers Council of the Officers of Russia organization. Sytnik believes that the US military has not yet been able to decipher the codes.

“They are taking note of our frequencies, taking note of our systems which are starting to be deployed against it (the US’s Boeing P-8 …

Ukraine and Romania have signed an interconnection agreement which will come into effect on January 1, 2020, the Operator of the Gas Transportation System of Ukraine (OGTSU), one of the signatories, announced on its website. Romania was represented by the company Transgaz.

The negotiations lasted more than three years, with mediation from the European Commission and the involvement of the operators of Bulgaria, Greece and Moldova.

The agreement will make it possible to freely transport gas to …

Russian President Vladimir Putin, during his press conference, said that military equipment to the separatist-held territories of Ukraine could be supplied by countries "that sympathize with the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics."

Commenting on the presence of tanks and heavy artillery in the Donbas, Putin said that there are various kinds of conflicts and hostilities with the use of artillery and other weapons in many "hot spots" of the world.

"Where do they get it from? Probably, from …

After hours of talks between representatives of Russia and Ukraine in Berlin on December 19, Vice President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič said that after months of negotiations Russia and Ukraine reached an agreement in principle on gas transit. Germany and the European Union mediated the negotiations.

According to Šefčovič, the agreements that were reached at the meeting will be additionally discussed in Moscow and Kyiv on December 20. He called the outcome of the talks in Berlin …