Europe

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/: Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that he plans to discuss next steps on Syria at the upcoming meeting with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin scheduled to be held in Sochi on October 22, Anadolu Agency reported on Friday.

"I view the upcoming meeting with Putin as the next stage in implementing steps on Syria," the news agency quotes the Turkish leader as saying.

Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov earlier said that Putin and Erdogan would meet in Sochi on October 22 to discuss the situation in northeastern Syria.

DONETSK, October 18. /TASS/: The Ukrainian armed forces have opened fire on unmanned aerial vehicles of the OSCE mission near the Petrovskoye-Bogdanovka disengagement area twice over the past week, one of them was destroyed, DPR people’s militia spokesman Eduard Basurin said on Friday.

"The Ukrainian armed forces opened fire on the unmanned aerial vehicles of the OSCE Special Monitoring Mission twice using small arms, one of these drones was destroyed," the Donetsk News Agency quotes him as saying.

ST. PETERSBURG, October 18. /TASS/: The Russian Defense Ministry has obtained exhaustive evidence the Arctic Ocean’s shelf belongs to Russia. The UN commission will consider them at a meeting in February, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said at a session of the Russian government’s Maritime Collegium in St. Petersburg on Friday.

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/: The Project 22350 first serial-produced frigate Admiral Kasatonov will fire cruise missiles during state trials in the White Sea, a source in the domestic defense industry told TASS on Friday.

"The stage of the ship’s state trials envisages the firings of cruise missiles," the source said.

The frigate earlier made a transit from the Baltic to the Northern Fleet, the source added.

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/: The US-Turkish agreement on suspending Ankara’s Operation Peace Spring in northeastern Syria reached at the talks between US Vice President Mike Pence and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Thursday will not enable Washington to seize the initiative in the Syrian settlement, Head of the Center for the Near and Middle East at the Russian Institute for Strategic Studies Vladimir Fitin told TASS.

18 Oct 2019; MEMO: UNESCO’s Executive Board approved at its 207th session a resolution calling on Israel to stop its violations and unilateral actions against historic sites in Jerusalem.

The decision was made by the international organisation during its meeting in Paris.

The resolution called on Israel to stop its unilateral and illegal violations against Al-Aqsa Mosque and within the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem.

SEVASTOPOL, October 18. /TASS/: The crews of Pantsir air defense systems searched for and destroyed a notional enemy’s cruise missiles along with repelling an attack by an adversary subversive force during drills in Crimea, the Black Sea Fleet’s press office reported on Friday.

MOSCOW, October 18. /TASS/: The Russian Armed Forces have received over 1,100 latest weapon systems since the beginning of this year, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on the single military output acceptance day on Friday.

"Today we will sum up the results of fulfilling the defense procurement plan in the third quarter for the delivery of armament, military hardware and the construction of military infrastructure facilities. Over the reporting period, the troops have received more than 1,100 items of advanced weaponry, military and special hardware," Shoigu said.

18 October 2019; AFP: British Prime Minister Boris Johnson launched a charm offensive on Friday to sell his Brexit deal to sceptical MPs, with a looming vote in parliament resting on a knife-edge.

The Conservative leader pulled off a major coup in agreeing a new divorce deal with the European Union on Thursday, paving the way for him to deliver his promise to leave the bloc on October 31.

Brussels, Oct 18 (AFP) European Union leaders endorsed a hard-fought Brexit deal with Britain on Thursday, but Prime Minister Boris Johnson faces an uphill battle getting it through the British parliament.

"It looks like we are very close to the final stretch," EU Council President Donald Tusk told reporters after the other 27 leaders approved the accord.