Artsrun Hovhannisyan, the press secretary of Defense Ministry told Interfax that Armenia has no intention of revising the status of Russian border guards serving on the country’s border with Turkey and Iran.

"The minister talked about certain legal clarifications and technical details only with the aim of improving and developing [the agreement on the Russian military base]," Hovhannisyan explained to Interfax.

Earlier, Armnews and other Armenian media published the statement of Defense …

Russia does not set itself the task of occupying Ukraine or part of it without the guarantee that the political regime in Kyiv will be replaced by one loyal to the Kremlin. Furthermore, Russia has neither the strength nor the resources for a large-scale offensive. Such an opinion was expressed by journalist Yuriy Butusov in an article for Zerkalo Nedeli (the Mirror Weekly).

“Today, holding the occupied territories, including the Donbas and Crimea, has become a huge burden on the Russian budget …

Russian lawmakers are trying to negotiate with Japan to prevent a series of legislative actions, which would disrupt an easing of relations, reported the chair of the Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev, according to RIA Novosti.

“We will definitely be continuing to discuss this matter, so that if possible certain legislative measures will not be allowed to pass, measures which would disrupt both countries’ efforts to move forward on the resolution of certain …