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Germany’s defense chief says NATO may remove some hurdles on Kiev’s way to membership

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said earlier that Ukraine would not be able to join the alliance as long as the military conflict rages on

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius

© AP Photo/Markus Schreiber

BRUSSELS, June 16. /TASS/. NATO allies may agree on facilitated procedures for Ukraine’s admission to the alliance as soon as the Ukrainian conflict ends, Reuters quoted German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius as saying on Friday.

"There are increasing signs that everyone will be able to agree on this," Pistorius said, commenting on reports that the US is open to permitting Ukraine to forgo formal candidacy procedures. "I would be open for this," Pistorius told reporters on the sidelines of a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Brussels.

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said earlier that Ukraine would not be able to join the alliance as long as the military conflict rages on.

In its turn, Ukraine has demanded that the North Atlantic Alliance give clear promises on any membership prospects by its summit in Vilnius. For the time being, a formula adopted at the NATO summit in Bucharest back in April 2008 has been in place for Kiev. Under it, NATO should welcome Ukraine and Georgia into the Membership Action Plan as soon as both meet the necessary criteria. No timeframes for joining the military bloc or any other accession parameters were given then.

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Ukraine crisis Germany

Ukraine requests UN Security Council meeting on November 27 — Russian mission

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Dmitry Peskov noted that this is an absolutely irresponsible line of reasoning from those with a poor grasp of reality

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Europe resumes talks of troop deployment to Ukraine — newspaper

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"It may become necessary for European soldiers to be deployed on Ukrainian soil, and Lithuania is always ready to consider such options," Gabrielius Landsbergis stated

Turkey to investigate causes of Russian Superjet emergency at Antalya airport

The Turkish side will also provide information on the progress of the investigation

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Press review: Russia to mass-produce Oreshnik missiles and EU gas prices reach record high

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Zelensky begs ‘for his country to be flattened’ — US journalist

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"In my opinion, the United States should invest in the reconstruction of Afghanistan after everything it has done and abandoned there," the top security official emphasized

Citizens of Poland, Germany, Italy apply for residence permit in Lugansk Republic

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When asked if the 1998 Russian-US memorandum of understanding on notifications of missile launches remained in effect, Sergey Ryabkov answered in the affirmative

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Dmitry Peskov’s statement comes in the wake of US National Security Council Spokesman John Kirby who said earlier that the American administration had provided the Ukrainian armed forces with instructions on selecting targets for strikes using American ATACMS tactical ballistic missiles

'Western vector' leaves Ukraine poorest country in Europe — politician

Ukrainians have never seen the promised freedom, Viktor Medvedchuk noted

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"Based on the aforementioned grounds, the Russian Foreign Ministry, in cooperation with the concerned agencies, made a decision to strip Wilkes Edward Pryor of accreditation, and he is ordered to leave Russia within two weeks," the statement reads

Top Israeli defense official announces construction of fence on border with Jordan

"We are going to do it very quickly," Israel Katz said

Press review: Israel approves US ceasefire agreement and Georgia's new parliament convenes

Top stories from the Russian press on Tuesday, November 26th

Anglo-Saxons secretly push Kiev toward nuclear terrorism — FSB head

"The minds of the Ukrainian population have been reformatted in a Russophobic way," Alexander Bortnikov stated

Intel chief calls on West to embrace Putin's vision for resolving Ukraine conflict

"The sooner Western capitals realize [the need to accept] the Russian president’s conditions for a peace agreement and talks, the better it will be for Ukraine, Europe and Russia, too," Sergey Naryshkin noted

Russia’s launch of new missile illustrated assured retaliation capability, lawmaker says

Andrey Kartapolov also noted that the enemy currently has no defenses against the Oreshnik.

Kiev forces lose over 450 troops in Battlegroup Center responsibility area in one day

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, the enemy lost more than 450 servicemen, a tank, five vehicles, a 203-mm self-propelled gun Pion, a 152-mm howitzer Msta-B, 2 152-mm guns D-20 and 2 122-mm howitzers D-30

Denmark, its neighbors hold talks with China about damaged cables under Baltic Sea-report

The Chinese ship is currently anchored in international waters in the middle of the Kattegat Strait off the Bjare Peninsula

Kabul counts on Moscow to help neutralize Western pressure

"We can assure you that the Islamic Emirate is a reliable economic partner," Deputy Prime Minister Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar said

Talk of halting Ukraine conflict related to Russia’s initiative on battlefield — SVR

Sergey Naryshkin added that the Western capitals "stopped thinking about strategically defeating Russia and shifted to thinking about how to avoid such a defeat themselves"

Russia designs Titan rifle for commandos

The rifle is reliable with precise and dense fire

Any escalation scenario possible in Ukraine conflict — Medvedev

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Explosion occurs at oil refinery in western Turkey, cause being investigated — TV

According to preliminary information, the incident occurred at about 8 p.m. (local time)

Russia to develop bilateral cooperation with Afghanistan — Shoigu

He pointed out that to this end, Russia will continue to support Kabul's integration into regional structures and associations

Russian national Nikita Zhuravel sentenced to 14 years in prison for high treason

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FACTBOX: Overview of Ukraine's ATACMS strikes on Kursk Region

The Ukrainian armed forces have delivered two strikes using Western-made long-range missiles on sites in the Kursk Region over the past three days

Scholz vows to continue supporting Ukraine following his chancellor nomination

The German chancellor listed supporting Ukraine at the top of his priorities should the SPD win and form a government

London intensifies anti-Russian campaign in face of impending ‘Ukrainian project’ failure

The realization of the impending failure of the ‘Ukrainian project’ London has been staking on in hopes of capitalizing on plans to inflict a ‘strategic defeat’ on our country by proxy is now as clear as ever," the embassy said

Austria ready to host Ukraine talks — chancellor

According to reports, US president-elect Donald Trump mentioned Nehammer's meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, which took place shortly after the start of the special military operation in Ukraine

Russian diplomat doesn’t rule out missile deployment in Asia as response to US’ actions

Sergey Ryabkov warned Russia’s adversaries against settling into a "false sense of security"

Shooting of Selidovo residents by Ukrainian troops meant to repeat Bucha provocation

The shooting of civilians could have been meant to "simply intimidate people who want to continue living on their soil," Russian foreign ministry’s ambassador at large, Rodion MIroshnik said

French politician calls for protests against deployment of Western troops to Ukraine

Florian Philippot called on his supporters to rally "in support for peace and against this madness" on December 1

Lukashenko tells Putin situation is "starting to get tense with Wagner"

The Belarusian leader noted that they want to go to Warsaw

Europe bracing for influx of Ukrainian troops after conflict is over — agency

According to the agency, the European intelligence community is preparing for potential threats, namely the possibility of Ukrainian troops flooding the continent and arms trafficking

Kremlin explains why Oreshnik missile came as surprise

"I am sure that neither of us is even aware right now of any new future developments," Dmitry Peskov said

Trump promises to impose 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico, Canada

Mexico and Canada have every right and opportunity to easily resolve this long-standing problem, US president-elect said

Rome plans to arrange Ukraine conference with Russia's participation

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga is set to attend the G7 foreign ministers' meeting on November 26, marking the end of Italy’s presidency of the informal group

Netanyahu may accept ceasefire in Lebanon to stop Hezbollah bombings — diplomat

According to al-Maliki, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is the only obstacle to a ceasefire in Gaza

Biden team may escalate global tensions to highest level, FSB chief warns

According to Alexander Bortnikov, the United States, the United Kingdom, and their allies will continue trying "to blatantly interfere in allied relations within the CIS, hinder integration processes, and undermine our joint efforts to ensure security and stability across the Commonwealth"

Majority of Americans oppose further military support for Ukraine, poll shows

The poll, conducted on November 19-22, involved over 2,200 Americans

Russia may soon push Kiev troops out of Kursk Region — Ukrainian battalion commander

It is noted that Russia has about three times as many men as the Ukrainians in the Kursk Region and six times as many explosive drones

Ukrainian front collapsing due to lack of willing soldiers, Russian offensive — magazine

Additionally, Ukraine "does not have enough weapons, munitions or hardware," the news outlet said

Kiev has ‘no chance’ of retaking lost territories — Blackwater founder

Erik Prince noted that it was necessary to end the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible

Putin has high hopes for cancer vaccine being developed in Russia

Head of the Federal Medical-Biological Agency Veronika Skvortskova briefed the Russian President on the vaccine's development

Anglo-Saxon special services involved in Nord Stream blasts, SVR chief says

Sergey Naryshkin recalled that Nord Stream was a joint Russian-European project "aimed at ensuring the uninterrupted supply of inexpensive Russian gas to Europe"

Top Indian defense official to visit Moscow, Kaliningrad on December 8-10 — source

Rajnath Singh will participate in the flag-raising ceremony of the Project 11356 frigate and its transfer to the Indian Navy," the source said

Ukrainian forces attempt to assassinate Novaya Kakhovka head, his deputy with drones

Ukraine tracked two service cars and dropped munitions on them after the vehicles approached the administration building

US did not contact Russia after use of Oreshnik missile — Deputy Foreign Minister

In his televised address to the nation on November 21, Putin stated that the United States and its NATO allies had authorized the use of long-range high-precision weapons before US and British missiles struck Russian military facilities in the bordering regions of Kursk and Bryansk

US gives Ukrainian servicemen guidance on selecting targets for ATACMS — White House

The Ukrainian servicemen "are able to use ATACMS to defend themselves on an immediate need basis," National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said

France, UK may deploy troops to Ukraine following ceasefire — expert

According to Elie Tenenbaum, European countries may send troops to east Ukraine to ensure the observation of a ceasefire regime and guarantee Kiev’s security

Ukraine is a failed state, Russian foreign intelligence chief says

Sergey Naryshkin stressed that Moldova is "following in its footsteps"

Russian military engaged in tough battles with Ukrainians in Kharkov Region — official

"Our forces continue their coordinated efforts to liberate the Kharkov Region from the enemy," Vitaly Ganchev said