Section: Cyprus
Obama willing to work with Iran, Russia to end Syria conflict (Updated)
The United States is willing to work with Iran and Russia to try to end the Syrian conflict, US President Barack Obama said on Monday but insisted there could not be a return to the status quo under Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Speaking at the UN General Assembly, Obama described Assad as a tyrant and as the chief culprit behind the...
Russian envoy withdraws assertion of Polish blame for Nazi invasion
Russia’s ambassador to Poland on Monday withdrew an assertion that Poland was partially responsible for the 1939 Nazi invasion and the outbreak of World War Two – comments that stirred anger at a tense time in Polish-Russian relations. Ambassador Sergey Andreyev was summoned by the foreign ministry after telling private broadcaster TVN24 on...
UK Labour leader strikes moderate pose before first conference
By Kylie MacLellan Veteran far-left politician Jeremy Corbyn sought on Sunday to portray himself as more moderate than depicted by his opponents, before his first conference as leader of Britain’s main opposition Labour Party. Corbyn told BBC television that his main goal was to make the Labour party more democratic by encouraging debate...
U.S. support for Syria rebels illegal, Putin says ahead of Obama meeting
By Jack Stubbs and Denis Dyomkin Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday branded U.S. support for rebel forces in Syria as illegal and ineffective, saying U.S.-trained rebels were leaving to join Islamic State with weapons supplied by Washington. In an interview with U.S. networks recorded ahead of a meeting with U.S. President Barack Obama,...
Obama and Putin to meet; Syria and Ukraine vie for attention
By Roberta Rampton and Denis Dyomkin U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet in New York next week at a time of high tension in Europe and the Middle East, but the Kremlin and the White House disagreed on Thursday over the top priority for the talks. The White House insisted the meeting would focus on eastern...
Russia’s Putin calls Elton John, for real this time, offers meeting
By Darya Korsunskaya and Andrew Osborn President Vladimir Putin phoned Elton John on Thursday to say he would be ready to meet up for a chat after the British singer requested a meeting to discuss his concerns about gay rights in Russia. Putin’s call came just a week after a pair of Russian comedians tricked John, 68, into thinking he was...
Moscow sees growing chance for international deal on Syria – source
Moscow sees a growing chance to reach international agreement on fighting terrorism in Syria and resolving a conflict which has killed a quarter of a million people, a Russian diplomatic source said on Wednesday. Diplomacy has so far failed to find a solution to the crisis, now in its fifth year, with international powers supporting rival sides...
Ukraine rebels offer to postpone local vote – separatist website
Pro-Russian rebels proposed on Tuesday postponing the date of local elections in separatist parts of east Ukraine to February 2016 in an effort to lift peacemaking out of ‘stalemate,’ according to a statement posted on separatist website LITs. Under terms of the much-violated Minsk peace agreement, reached in February, local elections were...
Russia’s Lavrov says Moscow to continue military support of Syria -reports
Russia will continue with military supplies to Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies on Sunday. Moscow has come under increased international pressure in recent days over what Washington and Gulf states say is a Russian military build-up in Syria, where the Kremlin has been supporting President Bashar...
Polish prime minister says accepting refugees is Poland’s duty
Poland cannot afford to accept economic migrants, but it is the biggest central European economy’s duty to accept refugees fleeing wars, Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz said on Thursday. “Accepting migrants escaping to save their lives is our duty,” Kopacz, speaking ahead of an election in October, told a news briefing at a forum in the...
