As reported on the 19th of June by several German newspapers and sources in the German Government, Chancellor Angela Merkel intends to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a resumption of the peace process in eastern Ukraine.

According to the media, "ideally", the new meeting will be held before the NATO summit on July 8-9th.

The media reports specified that a "preparatory" meeting in the Normandy format was held this week where such issues as the restoration of the "frozen" …

As reported by the German magazine Der Spiegel, citing participants at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) summit in Lausanne, the IOC can completely remove Russia from the 2016 Olympics or restrict the number of sports in which they can participate.

As noted, such a scenario will be discussed; however, the agenda of the summit will be determined by IOC president Thomas Bach. According to media reports, he will first discuss this matter with Russian President Vladimir Putin with whom he …

Russian military officials rejected the Pentagon’s accusations that Russia had bombed U.S.-backed opposition forces in the south of Syria.

During a video conference with Russian military officials on June 18th, the Pentagon expressed "grave concern with the attacks on the Al-Tanf garrison that was supported by the international coalition forces."

The representative of the Russian Ministry of Defense, Igor Konashenkov, refuted the accusations. In his statement on June 19th, Konashenkov said …

According to the Prime Minister of Ukraine, Volodymyr Groysman, Ukraine and Canada will soon sign a free trade agreement. The Prime Minister made this statement in a post on his Facebook page.

The agreement is expected to be signed after the first Canada – Ukraine economic forum which begins in Toronto on Monday June 20. Stepan Kubiv, the Ukrainian Minister of Economic Development and Trade, will take part in this economic forum.

“Canada has always been and will remain one of the main …

Ukrainian MP and official delegate to the Parliamentary Council of Europe Nadiya Savchenko expects that Ukraine will move in the same direction as Europe, UNIAN reported.

"First of all, I returned, and I just started to work. That’s my job.  On the other hand, I expect movement in the same direction as Europe; agreements, understanding and clear action,” Savchenko said before the PACE session in Strasbourg.

Savchenko was held in a Russian prison for nearly two years, and on May 25th was freed …

The Chief of Staff of the Russian Presidential Administration, Sergei Ivanov, said that the deployment of rotational NATO battalions close to Russia's borders is a violation of the agreement between NATO and the Russian Federation.

"It makes no difference whether a unit is permanent or it changes, say, every six months. For example, first there were Spaniards and then Portuguese arrived in their stead. In fact they came the day after the Spaniards left so combat readiness does not change. If …

Ukraine insists that the OSCE is given control over the contact line in eastern Ukraine as well as the sites of the withdrawal of weaponry and the stretch of the Ukrainian border which is currently not under Kiev's control.

However, the Russian side agrees to allow the armed OSCE observers only on the contact line in eastern Ukraine, stated the Ukrainian representative in the political subgroup in Minsk, Evgeny Marchuk, in his interview with the Ukrainian Hromadske.TV.

According to Marchuk …

Moldova's neutrality is an illusion and this has a negative impact on security, the Defense Minister of Moldova, Anatol Şalaru said on Friday, June 17th. According to him, neutrality is bad for Moldova, which should take care of its safety, given the challenges that exist in the region.

"While Russian Forces are illegally located in Moldova, we cannot speak of neutrality. The neutrality of Moldova is an imaginary notion that is promoted by socialists paid by the KGB of Transnistria," Şalaru …