Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov considers US Special Representative for Ukraine Kurt Volker's statement on the mandatory withdrawal of Russian troops from the Donbas to contradict the efforts of the Normandy format countries.

"There is a way forward: it is an unswerving, conscientious implementation of the Minsk agreements. This has long been carefully handled by the assistants of our leaders in the Normandy format, who agree on a 'road map' that synchronizes steps that increase …

After Poland becomes a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council, the return of Tu-154M wreckage will be brought to a higher diplomatic level, said Polish Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Jan Dziedziczak, Radio Poland reports.

According to him, the ministry does not intend to stop trying to get back the wreckage of the Polish Tu-154M Presidential Plane that crashed near Smolensk in 2010. He stressed that this issue was raised more than a dozen times during the talks at the ministerial …

Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey held an official event to open a new railroad, the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars line. The new route passes through the three countries and provides passenger and freight railroad transit between Europe and China surpassing Russia and Armenia.

The opening event took place in Alat, Azerbaijan, a village in a remote part of the Baku capital suburb, 70 kilometers southeast of the city. The ceremony was attended by top leaders of Azerbaijan and Turkey and the prime ministers of …

The U.S. State Department explained the updated sanctions issued by the Ministry of Finance on October 31, saying that it will work with its allies on the issue of pressuring Russia with sanctions, RIA Novosti reported.

“We will work with our allies and partners in the implementation of these sanctions in order to impose costs on the Russian government, while seeking to avoid unforeseen negative impacts on others,” the State Department said.

On October 31, the U.S. Treasury Department banned …

The US Department of Treasury updated Directive No. 4, originally introduced in 2014, as part of the sanctions against Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine. Restrictions against Russian oil companies have been extended to future projects on developing recoverable oil outside Russia.

The new sanctions law (CAATSA -Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act), signed by US President Donald Trump on August 2nd, required the amendment of this directive. The amendments had to be made by …