The U.S. Senate passed in the final reading the bill granting Ukraine the status of an ally without NATO membership.

From 2015 to 2017, the Lithuanian Embassy in Ukraine will serve as the NATO contact Embassy in this country, reported the "New Region", with reference to the Foreign Ministry of Lithuania.

The U.S. Congress passed in two readings the draft law on the prevention of Russian aggression, according to which the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia are granted the status of the U.S. allies without the membership in NATO.

’Sotsіalna Krajina’

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov promised that Russia will use all forces and means against Ukraine, if Ukraine decided to fight for the return of the Crimea. This was stated by Lavrov on Wednesday after a meeting with his Italian counterpart Federica Mogherini, reported RIA "Novosti".

The European Union has taken note of recent developments in Eastern Ukraine, in particular the fact that the Ukrainian authorities have resumed control of several towns formerly held by illegal armed formations.

The Parliament of Moldova voted for the ratification of the Agreement on the membership of the country in the EU. During a special session of the Parliament 59 MPs voted for the approval of the Agreement, and four MPs were against.

Russia warns Moldova against the risks of integration into the EU, reported to RIA Novosti Alexei Likhachev, the Deputy Minister of the Economic Development of the Russian Federation.

In the first quarter of this year compared with the same period last year Latvia was the fourth in the EU in terms of the economy growth, according to the statistical office Eurostat.

Profit investment ratio, presented in the magazine ForeignPolicy, says that Lithuania is the most favourable state for investments in the Baltic countries and the second by the profitability of investments in Europe, IA REGNUM was informed on 4 June at the investment promotion agency InvestinLithuania under the Ministry of Economy in Lithuania.

As soon as Putin announced his salvation plan of the economy, new "breakthrough" ideas followed. For implementing the "great gas deal" with China, Putin offered to take the path of "recapitalizing" Gazprom on the volume of the construction cost of the new infrastructure at the expense of foreign-exchange reserves of the country.

Lithuanian Energy Minister Jaroslaw Neverovič visited Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on 2 – 4 June, at the invitation of his counterpart, the Minister of Energy of this country, and participated in the 21st Exhibition and the Conference "The Caspian Oil and Gas", discussing during bilateral meetings the possibility for Azerbaijan companies to participate in supplying gas to the Baltic region, IA REGNUM was informed at the Ministry of Energy of Lithuania.

Pilot engineering works in developing unmanned fighter aircrafts with a long flight span will begin in Russia in 2014 already. As reported by RIA Novosti, this was stated by the Deputy Defence Minister Yuri Borisov. According to him, these works will be carried out jointly by the Ministry of Defence of Russia and the Experimental Engineering Bureau under the name of Simonov (the former OKB "Sokol").

Russian authorities are preparing a variety of countermeasures against possible economic sanctions of the Western states, said the Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev, noting that in any case the domestic economy will survive and social obligations will be fulfilled.

The first railway bridge from Russia to China across the Amur River will be built in 2016. The bridge will shorten the route for Russian goods sent to China by 700 kilometres. The construction will begin in the coming months. This was reported by RIA Novosti referring to the statement of Kirill Dmitriev, the CEO of the Russian Direct Investment Fund, in Shanghai.

Estonia insists on long-term presence of NATO forces in the Baltic region for protection from Russia. Estonian authorities consider the Alliance troops as a deterrent against Russian aggression - stated the spokesman of the Estonian Ministry of Defence Arthur Yugaste, reports DeutscheWelle.

For effective complex defence of Latvia, the establishment of a permanent division of the National Armed Forces has started in Latgale, reported the official website of the Ministry of Defence.

On 13 January a concert "Together to the victory" was held in Lithuania, where the audience decided to support Ukraine's defence and donated 110 thousand Euros.

Alexander Lukashenko on 9 January signed a decree № 8 "On the establishment of visa-free entry and exit of foreign nationals." The document establishes visa-free entry to Belarus for a period not exceeding 5 days at the entrance through the checkpoint "National Airport Minsk" for citizens of 80 countries, - reported the press service of the President of Belarus.