A delegation of the Federal Council of the Russian Federation, which was received in Riyadh by King of Saudi Arabia Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, held talks with him about the situation in Syria; the parties remained on opposite sides regarding the future of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

This was stated by Deputy Chairman of the Chamber Ilyas Umakhanov, who was a member of the Russian delegation, reported Interfax news agency.

According to Umakhanov, the King and the Russian delegation, …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met secretly with representatives of the British special services on several occasions, as reported by Focus, the German news website, with reference to its own sources.

The news agency notes that the latest meeting between the German Chancellor and the leaders of the British special services took place in October 2015, 60 km from London at the estate of the then British Prime Minister, David Cameron.

According to the report, they discussed the terrorist threat …

Mikheil Saakashvili, the former governor of Odessa, leader of the "Rukh novyh syl" or “Movement of New Forces” party said that his brother David was denied a residence permit in Ukraine.

"Very, very low move! Businessmen who support us experience pressure exerted by the authorities but no one touches the oligarchs. I also learned [on April 13] that on the basis of the letter from the Security Service of Ukraine, my brother David’s residence permit was revoked and he must leave Ukraine," …

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan asked Russia to help with training and providing supplies for its army and police, as stated by the Director-General of Policy and Strategy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Afghanistan, Mohammad Ashraf Haidari.

According to Haidari, after consultations, Kabul invited Moscow "to consider the possibility of providing maintenance support in Afghanistan, as well as material supply and training of personnel for the Afghan army and police."

The …

German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen commented on the U.S. missile strikes on the Syrian airfield. According to DW, the German minister, unlike many Western politicians who declared the deterioration of Russian-American relations after the strike, regards the incident as "an effective solution to the conflict situation."

"The Russian side was warned in advance about the attack. The air defense was not activated; therefore, they believed the American reports that the strike would be …