Russian Ambassador to Iran Levan Dzhagaryan said  that Moscow does not need any “permission” from Washington to strengthen its ties with Tehran. In an interview with the Iranian English-language channel Press TV, the diplomat stressed that Russia is an absolutely sovereign state which pursues independent policies, and does not need permission from the US or any other country to strengthen ties with Iran.

The ambassador believes that Russia-Iran relations have good prospects, noting that “the …

Countries in the EU have been buying increased quantities of gas for commercial and strategic reservoirs, filling all the available underground gas storage almost to the brim, in light of growing risks that the current gas war between Russia and Ukraine will escalate this winter.

In just over 3 weeks time, the current contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine will expire. To this day, despite Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in the Donbas, nearly half of the gas supplied …

The head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Denis Pushilin proposed to deprive the Ukrainian language of the official language status and make Russian the only official language in the "Republic," report media controlled by the militants, citing the press-service of "DPR's People's Council."

"The head of the DPR, Denis Pushilin, proposed to amend article 10 of the Constitution of the Donetsk People's Republic, defining the status of the Russian language as the only official …

The Netherlands believes that Russia allowed the terrorist Vladimir Tsemakh to leave the country in order to avoid extraditing him in the context of the MH17 case, Eurointegration reports, citing the findings of the Dutch Public Prosecution Service. Tsemakh features in the case as a suspect, but more evidence is required to prosecute him.

“The Public Prosecution Service has come to the conclusion that Russia knowingly acknowledged that Tsemakh had left its territory, and thus declined to …

Three Russian soldiers were injured and bruised in the Kobanî region, Syria, as a result of the explosion of an improvised explosive device, reports Interfax, citing Russian Defense Ministry.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the incident occurred as the Russian military police carried out a reconnaissance patrol using an armored vehicle along the Russian-Turkish route.

Joint patrols have been carried out in Syria by Russians and Turks since November 1. Russian soldiers use armored …

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry summoned the Hungarian Ambassador to Ukraine István Íjgyártó in connection with his recent statements about the autonomy of the Hungarian national minority in Ukraine, reports the press service of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

"On December 2, the Hungarian Ambassador to Ukraine István Íjgyártó was invited to the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, where he was told about the unacceptability of the statements he made in an interview on November 28," reads the message. …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told the German newspaper Der Spiegel in an interview that he does not believe the results of the surveys which claim that most inhabitants of the self-proclaimed Donbas republics say they want to live in Russia.

“I know that there are those who support Ukraine. The are those who have gotten lost. And there are those who are in favor of Russia. The latter can leave,” said Ukraine’s head of state.

Zelensky said that each person can choose where he wants …

Yuriy Vitrenko, an Executive Officer of Naftogaz Group Ukraine, said that Naftogaz of Ukraine faced different willingness of courts in several European countries to consider cases of compulsory recovery of $3 billion from the Russian gas company Gazprom by the decision of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, reports Radio NV.

"We are not able to launch compulsory recovery in Germany," said Vitrenko, as quoted by Interfax-Ukraine. He added that Ukraine has similar problems in Poland and Moldova. …