VLADIMIR PUTIN

Ukrainian officials have increased the capacity of the country's military since the start of the conflict 18 months ago, but some basic resources are still lacking.

After 18 months of conflict, separatists announced the beginning of mortar withdrawal as a two-month truce hangs in the balance.

An estimated 1,700 Russian-born fighters have joined ISIS or other rebel groups in the region since the Syrian war began.

The parents of a 19-year-old Russian soldier were told his death in Syria was a suicide due to an argument with his girlfriend, but they don't believe it.

Comments from Russia's Finance Minister over the country's Reserve Fund have raised further concerns about the real state of the country's economy.

At a moment of heightened terrorism fears, Russia has detained 150 migrant workers accused of ties to militant groups.

Regional powers are concerned that Iran's nuclear deal will allow it to significantly grow its military once sanctions are lifted.

The investigation is one of the first by U.S. regulators into a possible breach of Western sanctions against Russia, the Financial Times reported.

Delays have pushed back the first launch from the remote spaceport from year-end 2015 to April 2016. Vostochny spaceport would reduce reliance on the spaceport that Russia now leases from Kazakhstan.

The best-case scenario in Syria centers on people getting up one morning and seeing Bashar Assad is gone, according to Saudi Arabian Foreign Minister Adel al-Jubeir.

According to Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, Russia is fighting terrorism together with Syria.

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe joins a list that includes Cuba's former President Fidel Castro as the winner of the annual Confucius Prize, a Chinese alternative to the Nobel Peace Prize.

VTsIOM said Putin's rating had reached 89.9 percent in October, up from a previous high of 89.1 percent in June.

This was Syrian President Bashar Assad's first foreign visit since 2011, when civil war broke out in the country.

Russia criticized Estonia's plans to expand NATO's presence at the Amari air base. At the same time, Russia discussed how it was strengthening its own military forces.

The breakaway region, internationally considered part of Georgia, has been under effective Russian control since 2008.

NATO's Exercise Trident Juncture will test out the alliance's rapid response forces at a moment of continued Russian aggression in Europe.

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson said Sunday that if the U.S. had announced a plan to stop using foreign oil, Arab countries would have revealed Osama bin Laden right away.

Additional equipment caches will be used to ensure readiness in case of deployment in Europe and will include a brigade combat team with 1200 items that would be up to "full mission capacity."

“We call on all sides concerned to join the work of this information center,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said, adding he would like the "broadest coalition possible."

A small country once bombed by NATO could become the alliance's newest member as nations in Europe grow anxious about Russian aggression.