The President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė, in commenting on the decision of the EU to prolong economic sanctions against Russia, stated that concessions to Moscow would only promote their aggressive policy and increase the threat to Europe’s security, Delfi reports.

The European Union is firm in its position that sanctions against Russia be extended until Russia implements the Minsk Agreements. It was approved by the EU Council on Tuesday.

"Any indulgence will only encourage Russia's …

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko accused Russia of preparing terrorist acts in Ukraine. He stated this in an interview with the Bulgarian TV channel bTV, Ukrainski Novyny reports.

“Just last year alone, we prevented 300 terrorist attacks, which were prepared by the Russian terrorists who trained in the training centers in Kursk, the Belgorod and Rostov regions. We caught them with explosives during the preparation of terrorist acts and showed this to the world," Poroshenko said. …

If Finland joins NATO, the Russian troops are unlikely to remain retracted at a distance of 1,500 kilometers from the border.

This was stated by Russian President Vladimir Putin during his visit to Helsinki, the Kremlin website states.

“Imagine that Finland joins NATO. This means that Finnish troops will cease to be independent, will cease to be sovereign in the full sense of this word. They will become a part of NATO's military infrastructure, which overnight will appear on the Russian …

The head of Gazprom, Alexey Miller, stated at a press conference in Moscow on June 30th that the Russian gas company has supplied the occupied Donbas with $718 million in gas under the contract price initially granted to Naftogaz of Ukraine, Ukrainian news portal UNIAN reports.

“As for the gas supplies to the Southeast of Ukraine, we have only one contract signed with Ukraine in 2009. The contract defines the entry point for the gas supply to Ukraine, including the entry points in the …

According to Ukraine’s Deputy Minister of Economic Development and Trade, Natalia Mykolskaya, in response to the extension of food restrictions by Russia, Ukraine will extend its own food embargo until the end of 2017.

“The proposal of the Ministry is to extend our embargo [against Russia], measures that we take in retaliation, to the same term. We are ready to contact the Cabinet of Ministers with this proposal and consider this decision,” Mykolskaya said in her interview with journalists in …

The President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Pedro Agramunt, has urged members to maintain communication with the Russian parliament. He said this after a two-day visit to Moscow.

“Russia is a member state of the Council of Europe. Russia is important because without its active participation, we will be unable to effectively fight against terrorism. We will not be able to find a solution to the crisis in Syria. We will not be able to solve the crisis in Ukraine,” …

The Armenian Parliament has ratified the government’s decision to combine its air defense system with that of Russia. The governmental proposal was adopted by the Armenian Parliament on the 30th of June despite protests from the opposition. 102 People’s Deputies voted in favor of this proposal while 8 voted against it.

Armenia, Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan are all members of the Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO). Moscow strengthened its military …

Canada will take the lead role in the battalions’ creation, in order to support a program of deterrence and defense in Central and Eastern Europe, according to the government of Canada’s website.

“As one of the four leading nations, Canada intends to create and lead the rotary multinational battle group of NATO, which will contribute to increasing the presence of NATO in Eastern and Central Europe, along with the United States, Britain and Germany,” stated the message.

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