The Russian Foreign Ministry stated that connecting the EU sanctions to the regulation of the conflict in the Donbass is “groundless.”

"The fact that the EU binds their sanctions to the settlement of the conflict in southeastern Ukraine is artificial and groundless. This conflict was started not by Russia, but by the current Ukrainian government," the Ministry said.

"The lack of logic in the behavior of the European Union is obvious. It's trying to 'punish' Russia for something that it has no …

The member states of the Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) composed of Kazakhstan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan and Armenia do not support Russia abandoning the free trade zone with Ukraine, which operates within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), as reported by Viktor Khristenko, the Chairman of the Board of the Eurasian Economic Union, after the meeting of the Presidents of the EEU member states in Moscow.

"Within the next six months the legal mechanisms that allow national governments to …

According to India's autonomous auditing agency Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), the Russian Sukhoi SU-30MKI jets suffer from poor serviceability. The CAG report presented to Indian Parliament on Dec.18 notes that the operational readiness of the Russian jet was too low due to high rate of “Aircraft on Ground”, low serviceability and less achievement in flying hours. The unacceptable rate of AOG (Aircraft on Ground) means that out of 210 SU-30MKI with the Indian Air Force, more than 120 …

As reported by the press service of the head of state, President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will pay a state visit to Israel on December 22-23.

The agenda of the visit includes a meeting with President R.Rivlin, Prime Minister B.Netanyahu, Speaker of the Knesset Y.Edelstein and Patriarch Theophilos III of Jerusalem.

Mr.Poroshenko will deliver a speech to the Knesset (Parliament) of the State of Israel.

A number of bilateral documents are due to be signed during the visit.

According to Sergei Naryshkin, the Russian Duma Speaker, the sanctions against Russia have been entered into without the consent of the people of the EU.  The sanctions against Russia are humiliating and illogical for the EU, said Naryshkin, in an article he wrote for the newspaper Izvestia, released on Monday.

"Brussels’ approach to modern Russia is a strategic miscalculation.  Talking to us in the language of illegal sanctions is illogical and obviously embarrassing for European diplomacy," …