Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoygu said during a meeting with his Armenian counterpart David Tonoyan that the withdrawal of armed Kurdish units from the security zone on the Syrian-Turkish border has been completed ahead of time, reports TASS. According to Shoygu, both Syrian border guards and Russian military police entered these territories.

On October 22, at the meeting in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan agreed to resolve the military …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Ukraine, with the support of the World Bank, is launching an International Partnership Support Fund for the reconstruction and future reintegration of the Donbas.

Zelensky spoke about the Donbas International Partnership Support Fund  at the first investment forum on the restoration of the Donbas in Mariupol, where 12 memorandums were signed, and hundreds of prospective projects were presented to investors.

"Together with the World Bank, …

The process of bilateral withdrawal of forces began at 12:00 local time near the Zolote-4 settlement in stretch No. 2 in the Luhansk region, Ukraine’s Joint Forces Command announced on Facebook on Tuesday.

“This was possible because the silence regime had been complied with for the last week,” the post states. The post emphasizes that the start of the disengagement has been confirmed by representatives of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission. However, “in no event will the government disregard …

Russia’s military leadership uses various pretexts to deny soldiers the right to resign, forcing them to remain in service, reported Novaya Gazeta on Monday, October 28.

The Russian newspaper spoke to several lieutenants who are currently being forced to continue their service. One of them was Viktor Dey, a graduate of the Peter the Great Military Academy of the Strategic Missile Troops. After completing his studies, the lieutenant was dispatched to the Yuryansky division in Russia’s Kirov …

Executive Officer of the Ukrainian gas company Naftogaz Yuriy Vitrenko reported on his Facebook page that Naftogaz has started preparing a new lawsuit against Russian gas giant Gazprom.

Vitrenko made this comment after the negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, and the European Commission in Brussels on the future of the Russian gas transit through Ukrainian territory.

"No agreements were made. But I did not waste time because I worked on the claims against Gazprom in the new arbitration …

Polish and Bulgarian secret services have exposed Russian spies. The Polish Internal Security Agency detained a Polish citizen, who is suspected of working for the Russian intelligence agencies and possession of illegal weapons.

According to Polskie Radio, Peter S. was detained on October 24 in Warsaw, and he has been sentenced for three months. During the detention, local security forces conducted searches and found illegal weapons, ammunition, hard drives, and documents. It is noted that …

The US will defend Syria’s oil fields and use force if someone tries to capture them, said US Defense Secretary Mark Esper at a press conference broadcast by C-Span TV network.

“The US will maintain control over the oil fields in north-eastern Syria. When [Islamic State ringleader] al-Baghdadi was alive, these fields were a source of financing for IS which supported its operation,” Esper observed. He said that the US will “respond seriously to any forces that threaten them”.

The defense …

Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Angela Merkel held a telephone conversation to discuss the continuation of Russian gas transit to the EU through Ukraine after 2019, reports the Kremlin’s press service.

According to the Kremlin’s press service, Putin and Merkel discussed the transit in connection with the beginning of the next stage of the trilateral gas consultation of Russia, the EU, and Ukraine in Brussels. The parties are working on a decision on gas transit after the …