Section: Non-Middle East media focused on Middle East
US and allies discuss new sanctions on Russia over Ukraine: Kerry
British Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond (L) with US Secretary of State John Kerry (R) during ISIS talks at Lancaster House in London, Britain, on January 22, 2015. (EPA/Andy Rain) London, Reuters—The United States and its allies are discussing imposing more sanctions against Russia for undermining a European-brokered truce in eastern Ukraine, US...
Some Ukraine forces start to quit besieged town
Members of the Ukrainian armed forces ride on a military vehicle near Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine, on February 16, 2015. (Reuters/Gleb Garanich) Kiev, Reuters—Some Ukrainian forces began to pull out of a town under siege by Russian-backed separatists on Wednesday as renewed fighting threatened to wreck an international deal aimed at ending the...
Separatists claim control of crucial Ukrainian crossroads town
Ukrainian government soldiers sit on top of their armored vehicle driving on a road stretching away from the town of Artemivsk, Ukraine, towards Debaltseve, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2015. (AP)Kiev—Rebels in eastern Ukraine said Tuesday they took control of most of the strategic crossroad town Debaltseve in fighting that’s threatening to undermine...
Battle persists for Ukraine railway hub, despite peace deal
Ukrainian servicemen sit on an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) at a checkpoint near the town of Svitlodarsk, Donetsk region, on February 16, 2015. (AFP PHOTO / ANATOLII STEPANOV)Luhanske, Ukraine, AP—Intense artillery exchanges between Ukrainian government forces and Russian-backed separatists persisted Monday around a strategic town in eastern...
Guns mostly fall silent in east Ukraine as ceasefire takes hold
Ukrainian tanks near Debaltseve, eastern Ukraine, on February 14, 2015. (REUTERS/Gleb Garanich)Donetsk and Artemivsk, Reuters—Guns fell abruptly silent at midnight across much of eastern Ukraine in line with a ceasefire agreement, although periodic shooting near a front-line railway junction showed that the truce was fragile. Reuters journalists...
Ukraine ceasefire deadline provokes bitter last-gasp battle
Pro-Russian rebels stationed in Donetsk region launch missiles toward a position of the Ukrainian forces in Debaltseve, about 20 miles away, on February 13, 2015. (AFP Photo/Andrey Borodulin) Artemivsk, Ukraine, AP—Russian-backed separatists mounted a vicious assault Friday in eastern Ukraine ahead of a weekend ceasefire deadline, pummeling a...
Opinion: Putin, a Prisoner of the Past
While learning from history is the first duty of any statesman worth his salt, he should also be on guard against learning the wrong lessons. One example is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt at building a national strategy around certain moments in history that are long gone, never to return. In this context Putin ordered a big...
Ceasefire agreed for eastern Ukraine after Minsk summit
Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) gestures as German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko stand nearby during peace talks in Minsk, Belarus, on February 11, 2015. (AP Photo/Kirill Kudryavtsev, Pool) Minsk, Reuters—The leaders of Germany, France, Russia and Ukraine have agreed a deal to end fighting in eastern...
Fighting in Ukraine continues ahead of peace talks
A woman walks past a destroyed bus in Donetsk after shelling hit the central bus station on February 11, 2015. (AFP Photo/Vasily Maximov) Donetsk, AP—Shelling rocked a bus station in the rebel stronghold of Donetsk Wednesday as fighting continued to rage in eastern Ukraine ahead of crucial peace talks later in the day. Rebel officials said that...
Russian President Vladimir Putin in Egypt to meet leader
A banner displaying the portrait of Russian President Vladimir Putin (L) and his Egyptian counterpart Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi (R), on a Cairo’s 6th of October Bridge on February 9, 2015. (AFP PHOTO / MOHAMED EL-SHAHED)Cairo, AP—Russian President Vladimir Putin arrived in Cairo on Monday to meet his Egyptian counterpart, with both sides eager...
