Minsk

MINSK - Belarus will continue to support Serbia, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Friday after a meeting with Serbian PM Aleksandar Vucic, urging a strengthening of trade between the two countries.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic says he discussed a potential acquisition of fighter planes with Belarus officials on Thursday in Minsk.

According to Vucic, they also spoke about purchasing anti-aircraft weapons for the Serbian Army (VS) "under most favorable conditions."

Serbian and Belarus prime ministers, Aleksandar Vucic and Andrei Kobyakov, on Thursday in Minsk attended the signing of several inter-state agreements.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko called for a worldwide effort to counter the threat of Russian cyber warfare and urged the United States to "be great again" by demonstrating leadership on issues such as global security. 

Ukraine said five of its troops were killed Dec. 18 by pro-Russian insurgents in the bloodiest clash in the war-scarred ex-Soviet republic in months.

Kyiv military spokesman Leonid Matyukhin told AFP that another six soldiers were wounded in the battle for control of the strategic city of Debaltseve.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has urged Western allies to maintain diplomatic pressure and sanctions on Russia until it respects the peace agreement in Ukraine.

No breakthrough has been reached at the meeting in Minsk attended by the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Ukraine and Russia.
The countries from the Normandy Four discussed the withdrawal of armed formations from the front line in Eastern Ukraine and the exchange of prisoners of war.

A meeting of foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany intended to shore up a shaky peace process in eastern Ukraine ended Nov. 29 without any visible progress.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters after the talks that "there were no breakthroughs," adding that sharp disagreements on security and other issues remain, The Associated Press reported.

Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko has arrived in Brussels for the EU summit. Poroshenko's visit is aimed mainly at liberalising the visa regime for Ukrainians and the implementation of the Minsk agreements.

Lindita Cela has been named winner of CEI SEEMO's prestigious Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism in 2016 for her uncompromising investigations into corruption scandals and organized crime, including the problem of human trafficking in Europe.