NATO's large-scale naval military exercises in the Baltic sea named BALTOPS-2019 that have started on Sunday, "are not directed against third countries," said the official representative of the Alliance Oana Lungescu.

Russia is the only country in the Baltic region that does not participate in these maneuvers. Two other vital Baltic states, Sweden and Finland, who are not members of NATO, also participate in the exercises as partners.

"The Baltic sea has strategic importance for the Alliance. …

The fifth president of Ukraine, Petro Poroshenko, announced he is ready to assume the office of Prime Minister in the event that his European Solidarity party wins in the early parliamentary elections.

“If we win the elections, then yes,” Poroshenko said in a comment to Hromadske, as reported by Radio Svoboda.

On June 9, the European Solidarity Party presented the first ten of its list for the early parliamentary elections which are scheduled for July 21. It included, among others: Petro …

On June 9 Iranian Defense Minister Amir Khatami presented a new and a modern air defense system Khordad-15 made in Iran, reports the Iranian news agency Tasnim. The system can hit various targets with Sayyad-3 missiles.

"The system can detect up to six different targets at the same time, including military aircraft and drones in a 150 kilometers range and track them at a distance of 120 kilometers," the report said.

It is noted that the system is designed to destroy enemy targets at an …

The statement of the Commissioner for European Neighborhood Policy Johannes Hahn and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Federica Mogherini says that the European Union considers the election of the new government of Moldova legitimate, reports the European Truth news outlet.

"The European Union takes good note of the decisions taken yesterday by the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, including on the formation of the government coalition," said Hahn and Mogherini, taking the …

The Polish oil logistics company PERN has confirmed that the supply of clean oil from Russia has resumed, Polish Radio reports.

“On the morning of 9 June, Russia resumed the supply of clean oil through Belarus to the Polish transmission system,” the report states.

According to PERN spokesperson Katarzyna Krasinska, the company has implemented a mechanism to constantly monitor the quality of the oil arriving from the east.

“This morning the supply of oil not contaminated with organochlorides …

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has once again extended the disqualification of the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF). In a session in Monaco on 9 June, the IAAF council refused to reinstate Russia’s membership, which was suspended in 2015 in connection with mass doping, DW reports.

Rune Andersen, head of the IAAF work group that is supervising Russia’s efforts to rejoin the association, said that his team had advised the organization’s leaders to make this …

Poland, which is celebrating 15 years of EU membership and 20 years of NATO membership this year, is willing to share its experience in this matter with Ukraine, said Polish Marshal of the Senate Stanislaw Karczewski during the 10th session of the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in Kyiv, Radio Poland reports.

“We will build a stronger European Union. And a stronger EU is a union with Ukraine. A high level of security is also related to Ukraine’s membership in NATO. In Poland this year we will …

During St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, Russian President Vladimir Putin told journalists that he is worried about the danger of a new global conflict.

The Russian President said that after the invention of nuclear weapons civilization lives in a state of relative peace and "it would be better not to bring it to the conflict."

"After the invention and creation of nuclear weapons, humanity is in a state of relative peace. Of course, except for regional conflicts. The state of …