Section: Cyprus
What kind of aggression are we talking about?
By Gwynne Dyer JUST BEFORE he sat down to a traditional Bavarian meal of sausages and beer with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the start of the G7 summit on Sunday, US President Barack Obama told the media that one of the meeting’s priorities would be discussing ways of “standing up to Russian aggression in Ukraine.” Which begs the...
UK’s Cameron trips up over Europe at G7 summit, denies U-turn
By Andrew Osborn British Prime Minister David Cameron tripped up over Europe at a summit of the Group of Seven Industrial nations (G7), appearing to issue an ultimatum to his own ministers over the EU only to swiftly withdraw it, saying he had been misunderstood. The debacle was Cameron’s first serious setback since he was re-elected a...
Merkel encourages G7 leaders to agree tough climate goals
By Paul Carrel German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Group of Seven (G7) leaders to commit to tough goals to cut greenhouse gases at the final day of their summit in the Bavarian Alps on Monday. Merkel, once dubbed the “climate chancellor”, hopes to revitalise her green credentials by getting the G7 industrial nations to agree specific emissions...
Ukraine’s Poroshenko warns of Russian invasion threat after fighting surge
By Richard Balmforth and Pavel Polityuk Ukraine’s president told his military on Thursday to be prepared for the possibility of a “full-scale invasion” by Russia across the entire length of the joint border, a day after the worst fighting with Russian-backed separatists in months. His address in parliament was one of the first times Petro...
Ukraine forces, separatists fight first serious battles in months
By Alessandra Prentice and Pavel Polityuk Ukrainian troops and pro-Russian separatists on Wednesday fought their first serious battles in months and Ukraine’s defence minister said an attempt by rebels to take the eastern town of Maryinka had been thwarted. The Ukrainian military said the Russian-backed rebels had tried to advance using...
Russia dismisses EU criticism of travel blacklist
Russia criticised the European Union on Monday for allowing the publication of a list of European officials barred from entering the country in the diplomatic fallout over the Ukraine crisis. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow, which drew up the list in response to a similar ban on Russian officials by the EU, had handed over the list to...
Putin backs Blatter, says FIFA arrests shows U.S. meddling abroad
By Darya Korsunskaya and Dmitriy Rogovitskiy Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Russia’s right to host the 2018 soccer World Cup on Thursday and accused the United States of meddling outside its jurisdiction in the arrest of top officials from world governing body FIFA. Putin said the arrests in Switzerland on Wednesday were an...
Fresh fighting erupts in east Ukraine, three Ukrainian soldiers killed
By Richard Balmforth Three Ukrainian servicemen have been killed and 12 wounded in the latest clashes between government forces and Russian-backed separatists, further eroding a three-month-old ceasefire, Kiev’s military said on Friday. Military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said government forces had come under attack from separatists using...
Ukraine reports fresh casualties in east, OSCE sees violence spreading
By Alessandra Prentice One Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and eight wounded in fresh separatist attacks, the military said in Kiev on Thursday, as the OSCE security watchdog warned of a “worrisome” spread of violence in eastern Ukraine. Fighting has lessened significantly since a ceasefire between Ukrainian forces and Russian-backed rebels...
Ukraine crisis makes EU eastern partnership more important – Merkel
The crisis in Ukraine makes the European Union’s partnership with the bloc’s eastern neighbours more important than ever, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Thursday, insisting that the initiative is not directed against Russia. Speaking in parliament before joining a summit in Riga with six of the EU’s ex-Soviet...
