As reported on Facebook, by the British Embassy press service in Kiev, the UK and Ukraine are to sign a 15-year defense partnership agreement.

“The agreement will be in place for 15 years. Areas that are covered by the agreement are supposed to exchange information about potential threats, participate in joint exercises, train members of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and to cooperate in the sphere of military equipment,” the Embassy reported.

It was also stated that the UK is trying to increase …

The Secretary of the Security Council of the Russian Federation and the former head of the Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB), Nikolai Patrushev, spoke on Monday about the threat of destabilization in the Crimea. "The threat of destabilization of the political situation in the Crimean Federal District still remains. Primarily, this is due to the political challenges and the economic pressure from our western opponents," Patrushev said at a meeting in Yalta on Monday.

The …

The General Military Prosecutor's Office of Ukraine estimated the damage caused by the annexation of the Crimea to be 1 trillion hryvnia ($38 billion), as stated by the head of the agency, Anatolii Matios, at a briefing on March 21st, reported Krym.Realii.

"According to the preliminary conclusions of the experts, the damage to the Ukrainian state caused by the annexation of the Crimean Peninsula by Russia amounts to more than 1 trillion hryvnia. This number takes onto account only the value of …

Russia began importing Syrian produce to partially replace Turkish products which have been prohibited for import by Russian authorities since January 1st, Kommersant reported.

General Director of Adyg Yurak Zao, Aslan Panesh, said last week that nearly 3,000 tons of citrus fruits, cabbage and tomatoes arrived in Novorossiysk. According to him, it was the second batch but there had been some problems importing from Syria. Supplies from Syria are organized by the French shipping company CMA CGM. …

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan suggested that Russia be stripped of its permanent UN Security Council member status. In addition, according to the Turkish leader, the institution itself is in dire need of fundamental reform, as reported by ghhauto.ru.

"This system must be reformed. Just think about it: five permanent and ten non-permanent UN Security Council members. They will perform their duty for another two years. The UN Security Council consists of Russia, Britain, France, the USA, …

Ukrainian Finance Minister Natalie Jaresko confirmed on Tuesday that she is ready to head a technocratic government as Prime Minister, as long as that government serves the people of Ukraine and not political or oligarchical interests, Interfax-Ukraine reported.

"I'm ready to form a team that right now will start working for Ukraine and its citizens, not for certain business or political groups," Jaresko wrote on Facebook.

Two weeks ago it was reported that Jaresko tentatively agreed to …

According to Russia, Ukraine's debt as of March 20th, together with the interest, amounts to 3.137 billion dollars. This follows the claim filed by the Law Debenture Trust Corporation company, which represents Russia, to the English Court against Ukraine, RBC reports.

The lawsuit states that on December 21st, 2015, when the repayment of securities was due, Ukraine did not pay 3.075 billion dollars which violated the trust management agreement (Trust deed) with the Law Debenture Trust, the loan …

As was stated by the Deputy Chief Monitor of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Special Monitoring Mission (SMM) to Ukraine, Alexander Hug, all parties associated with the conflict in the Donbas region should reroute in the direction of Yasinovataya and withdraw their troops from the line of contact. Only after this can the Donetsk-Horlivka route be opened for civilian transport.

"We observed intensive fighting on this territory. Civilians using this route would …