Paris called the French Parliament’s intention to visit the occupied Crimea an “illegal initiative” which has “nothing to do with the position of the French Foreign Ministry, the European Union or the entire international community.” This was stated by the French Foreign Ministry spokesman, Romain Nadal, UKRINFORM reports.

“The French position is clear and consistent: together with the European Union and the entire international community, France does not recognize the illegal annexation of …

In late June and early July, Lithuania started receiving used military Mercedes-Benz GD SUVs from the Netherlands.

This was reported by news portal Delfi with reference to the Ministry of the Defense of Lithuania.

In total there will be 150 SUVs joining the Lithuanian army’s fleet.

The vehicle delivery to Lithuania started on June 27 and the transfer will end on July 15.

On the basis of a bilateral agreement, the Lithuanian army buys used military vehicles – Mercedes-Benz GD SUVs for …

The restrictive measures imposed “against Moscow have had very minimal effect on the military policy of Moscow” the British MPs believe.

The Defense Committee of the British Parliament urged its government to put more Russian government officials on the sanctions list. This was stated in the Committee's report, published on Tuesday, July 5.

The reports points out that the restrictive measure have had “minimal influence on the military polices of Russia”.

The document recommends facilitating …

Due to the strained relations with Russia and the fight against international terrorism, the defense spending of most of the NATO member states will grow significantly in 2016. The headquarters of NATO in Brussels reported on Monday, July 4 that the general increase in military spending of all allied nations, with the exception of the US and Canada, will reach almost 3%.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the picture of defense spending in NATO countries is mixed, as some of …

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine declared its intention to impose retaliatory sanctions in response to Russia's transit restrictions. The reaction of the Ukrainian Government to the transit restrictions imposed by a decree signed by the Russian President Vladimir Putin was expressed by the First Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine and the Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Stepan Kibiv, on July 4th.

According to Kibiv, imposing retaliatory sanctions is a common international practice in …