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Kremlin: Russia will need huge military expenses if Georgia joins NATO
The accession of Georgia to NATO, which is expected to take place in 2021, will require “huge” expenses from Russia, stated Andrey Kelin, Director of the Department of European Cooperation of the Russian Foreign Ministry.
According to Kelin, Georgia's decision to become a member of the North Atlantic Alliance is viewed by Moscow as a problem and to resolve it Russia would require additional investments in defense.
“We will have to form a defense zone near Sochi,” Kelin said, adding that "it …
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Russian politician proposes shooting down US planes over Syria
The Russian military may shoot down more than just US-guided drones if there is another assault on its air base in Syria, warned Vladimir Shamanov, head of the State Duma Defense Committee. Russia may even target the American aircraft from which the drones are believed to be controlled.
Shamanov stresses that Moscow’s accusations that Washington attacked the Khmeimim Air Base using drones controlled from a US Poseidon 8 aircraft are based on “reliably gathered information”.
“Next time, this …
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Merkel says she is not as critical about Nord Stream 2 as Kyiv
At a meeting with Andriy Parubiy, Ukrainian Parliament Speaker, and the heads of parliamentary groups in Kyiv ,German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she is not as critical about the Nord Stream 2 project as Kyiv and favors preserving gas transit through Ukraine after 2019.
"We know that Ukraine is against this project. I am less critical about the project and I am in favor of Ukraine having guarantees, that Ukraine will preserve its transit role," Merkel said.
Ukrainian President Petro …
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Estonia starts a sudden call up of reservists
According to ERR news agency, the government of Estonia decided at a meeting on Wednesday, October 31 to call 1,248 reservists for additional military training. This concerns the reservists, who are assigned to the 51st Logistics Battalion and who are assigned to the unit's mobilization reserve.
The aim of additional military exercises is to review the functioning of the chain of command, starting with the decisions of the Estonian government and ending with the gathering of reservists from …
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Hungary vows not to seize Ukraine's Zakarpattia region
Hungary supports Ukraine on many levels, and does not intend to capture Ukraine’s Zakarpattia province, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó promised in an interview with Gazeta Prawna.
According to the Hungarian diplomat, there is no revisionism in his country’s policy.
“These are unreasonable and false insinuations… I repeat yet again – we are are not revisionists. I dismiss such explicit accusations,” he said.
According to Szijjártó, Hungary supports Ukraine by providing loans for …