At a press conference in Osaka, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Kremlin will do everything possible to improve relations with the United States amid diplomatic conflicts arising from the annexation of Crimea, the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine, and the accusations of Russian meddling in the US 2016 presidential elections.

Putin described his meeting with Trump as businesslike and pragmatic.

“I think that we have a mutual understanding that we need to somehow get out of this …

Seven countries from central and eastern Europe intend to draft a special resolution against Russia’s reinstatement in the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), said Stanisław Karczewski, Marshal of the Polish Senate, as cited by Polskie Radio.

In order to discuss this, Karczewski met with representatives of these countries in Lublin on the 450th anniversary of the Lublin Union.

“We spoke about this topic yesterday. We are all outraged by this situation. Country …

Syrian television reported on a missile attack on the outskirts of Damascus and Homs. The air defense system reportedly managed to repel the attack and shoot down missiles, reports SANA (Syrian Arab News Agency).

A military source informed SANA that the missiles most likely were fired by the Israeli aircraft from the Lebanese airspace. Their target was military facilities in the largest cities in the country.

According to SANA, four civilians were killed as a result of an attack.

Israel …

Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported about the arrival of additional units of the North Atlantic Alliance in Odessa to participate in the Sea Breeze 2019 exercises. The first units arrived in Odessa on the American C-130J Hercules, and the UK special marine forces arrived on British A400 Atlas jet aircraft, reports the press service of the Ukrainian military department.

The exercises Sea Breeze were initially conducted as part of the Partnership for Peace program. Since the 2000s, they were …

Russian Ministry of Digital Development, Communications, and Mass Media considers the possibility of requiring mandatory pre-installation of domestic applications on smartphones and tablets sold in Russia. The draft amendments to the law on communications should be published for public discussion.

According to Vedomosti news agency, the Kremlin wants to demand that the smartphones and other devices which are supplied to the Russian market have applications from domestic developers installed on …

Ukraine has expanded the list of prohibited goods from Russia. According to the decree of the Ukrainian government from July 1, the import of the following types of vehicles is banned: buses, motorcycles, tractors, and specialized equipment, reports Avtovzglyad news outlet. Import of cars and trucks was already prohibited.

According to the publication, official sales of Russian cars were banned in Ukraine almost immediately after the annexation of the Crimea by Russia. However, Ukrainian car …

At a press conference at the G20 Summit in Osaka Russian President Vladimir Putin said that Ukrainian sailors could be exchanged for Russian citizens who are detained in Ukraine, reports UNIAN news agency.

Putin was asked whether the release of Ukrainian sailors was linked to the return of Russia to PACE and whether the Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Pavlo Klimkin rejected Russia's proposal to release the Ukrainian military.

"No, there is no connection between PACE and Ukrainian …

Nord Stream 2 AG, the subsidiary of Russia’s oil giant Gazprom which owns the project, has withdrawn the application to lay the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline in the territorial waters of Denmark, South of Bornholm island in the Baltic sea, that was submitted in 2017, RBC news agency reports. Two other applications with proposals to place a gas pipeline North-West or South-East of the island, outside Danish territorial waters, remain in force.

"This step was necessary, because more than two years …