Breaking News, 23rd of May, 2018

Anna News reporters, located in Syria, report that the Syrian army took full control over Damascus and its suburbs. Governmental troops entered Hajr el-Aswad district — they came from the southern suburbs and from the direction of the Yarmuk refugee camp, thus liberating the last place controlled by ISIS terrorists up until now. Anna News reporters point out that the terrorists placed landmines during their retreat, but also left a huge amount of weapons behind them.

In the DPR, over for the past day, the Ukrainian army units violated the ceasefire 11 times, firing 328 shells at the front-line territories of the DPR. The areas around Gorlovka — the villages of Zaitsevo, Golmovsky, Verkhnetoretskoe Nizhne, as well as the towns of Dokuchaevsk and Yasinovataya, and the villages Yakovlevka and Vasilievka, as well as the other villages in the south of the DPR were under fire. Artillery, mortars, weaponry of APC and IFV were used in the shelling. The night before, an elderly woman was injured as a result of shelling of the village of Yakovlevka, located near Yasinovatoy.

Ukrainian troops fired at the LPR positions seven times over the past day. The villages of Kalinovo, Lozovoe, Veselovka, Nizhne Lozovoe were hit, as well as the area near the monument to Prince Igor. Mortars of various calibers, weaponry of infantry fighting vehicles, grenade launchers and small arms were used in the shelling.

The head of the US State Department, Mike Pompeo, announced that if the denuclearization of the DPRK actually happens — the USA could help Pyongyang to substantially «improve people’s lives.» According to Mike Pompeo, if it is indeed possible to achieve the denuclearization — Washington will be able to provide the North Korea with «a lot of things that can improve the lives of people» of the DPRK. Pompeo noted that Washington is still determined to hold a summit with the DPRK in 12th of June. The American side is «completely ready» for the meeting.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian made a statement in which he announced that Paris considers the US sanctions against a number of European companies that are having a trade with Iran, to be illegitimate. He explained that France «is completely against such decisions», and added «We must protect companies that trade with Iran. Protect their investments. Sanctions against those companies are not legitimate.»- TASS quotes Le Drian.

Brussels intends to seek the preservation of a long-term transit of Russian gas through Ukraine to the European Union, said the Deputy of the Minister of European Union Affairs — Maros Shefovich. According to him, the constructive and stable cooperation between Russia and Ukraine, in the matter of energy supplies, is very important for the European Union. Maros Shefovich added that he sent the invitations to both Russia and Ukraine for a new round of negotiations on the topic of transit of gas supplies.