RUSSIA has warned that any Israeli air strike against Syria would be "unacceptable" after the Damascus regime said a military research centre had been attacked by Israeli fighter jets.

• Date: 31.01.2013  |  Published on EGF: 31.01.2013  |  External Relations  |  from theaustralian.com.au

Iran has imported 4 billion bcm of gas from Turkmenistan since March 19, 2012, Deputy Oil Minister Javad Owji said, Mehr reported.

• Date: 30.01.2013  |  Published on EGF: 30.01.2013  |  External Relations  |  from trend.az

Cyprus' president said Wednesday that Russia is ready to join the European Union in putting together a rescue package for the heavily indebted country.

Dimitris Christofias said that his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin assured him of Moscow's readiness to "extend a helping hand" to Cyprus in a telephone conversation the previous day.

• Date: 30.01.2013  |  Published on EGF: 30.01.2013  |  External Relations  |  from news.yahoo.com

Moscow and Astana have signed a deal to establish a regional defense system, which will also include missile defense.
The document was signed on Wednesday during a meeting between Kazakh Defense Minister Adilbek Dzhaksybekov and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, who is paying an official visit to Astana, the Kazakh capital.

• Date: 30.01.2013  |  Published on EGF: 30.01.2013  |  External Relations  |  from rt.com

Prime Minister of Latvia Valdis Dombrovskis (Unity) has submitted a report on Latvia's security situation to Saeima, in which he points out that more transparency on Russia's military modernization goals would substantially improve mutual trust and enhance the security situation in Europe, informs LETA.

• Date: 29.01.2013  |  Published on EGF: 29.01.2013  |  External Relations  |  from baltic-course.com

Gazprom (GAZP) sent Ukraine’s state-run energy company a $7 billion bill for failing to import agreed natural-gas volumes last year, in an echo of a conflict that twice disrupted shipments to European customers in recent years.

• Date: 28.01.2013  |  Published on EGF: 28.01.2013  |  Energy  |  from businessweek.com

The U.N. nuclear watchdog signaled on Friday it would keep trying to secure Iran's cooperation with a long-stalled investigation, but a senior Iranian lawmaker suggested Tehran would only cooperate if it won sanctions relief in return.

• Date: 26.01.2013  |  Published on EGF: 26.01.2013  |  External Relations  |  from news.yahoo.com

Russia has repeatedly pledged to boost strategic security cooperation with China. In the past, both sides preferred only to make verbal statements on the matter. But now Moscow and Beijing appeared to pledge actual joint action in connection with issues of strategic security, including the United States’ missile defense plans in Asia.

• Date: 26.01.2013  |  Published on EGF: 26.01.2013  |  External Relations  |  from jamestown.org