Military exercises with the participation of NATO countries were completed in Georgia. Over 1,200 servicemen including dozens of soldiers and officers from the United States, Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine, Latvia and Turkey took part in the Agile Spirit 2016 exercises that were conducted beginning on September 1st at the Orfolo range in southern Georgia, near the Turkish border.

Aircraft and artillery were actively used. The exercises were carried out in two phases: rifle training on the Orfolo …

The deputy chairman of the Crimean Tatar’s Mejlis, Ilmi Umerov, stated that Crimean Tatars will not take part in the Russian State Duma elections on September 18 in the Crimea.

“It is absolutely clear that the majority of Crimean Tatars will not take part in the elections. We urge them to do that. The organization of elections in the occupied territories will result in recognition of the invalidity of Russian elections and these are huge costs [for Russia],” Umerov said.

On September 8, the …

A country-wide ceasefire in Syria is scheduled to begin at sundown on Monday (approximately 12:00 EST). The United States and Russia both agreed to the parameters of the ceasefire, which call on the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to cease all combat operations against rebel groups. By doing so, Moscow and Washington hope to map out which areas are held by extremist forces such as the so-called Islamic State, and which are not.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, while announcing the …

A bill was submitted in the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian Parliament) calling to classify the names “DPR” (Donetsk People’s Republic)  and “LPR” (Luhansk People’s Republic) as those which promote criminal organizations, which in turn would prohibit the use of the names in the media, 112.ua reported.

Instead of the abbreviations “DPR” and “LPR” the initiator of the bill proposes the terms “criminal organization, self-proclaimed in the territory of the Donetsk region” and “criminal organization, …

CEO of the Ukrainian state energy company Naftogaz, Andriy Kobolyev, stated that the Ukrainian side is ready to buy gas from Russian Gazprom only if it offers a reasonable price.

“Our offer extends to all companies, including Gazprom, only if it is ready to offer a reasonable price and abide by the rules.” Kobolyev’s words were quoted by Naftogaz on the air of the BBC TV program Hard Talk.

According to him, currently Naftogaz is buying fuel from 14 European suppliers.

“The very fact that …