Section: The Gulf Today (United Arab Emirates)
Nato sets out ways to deter Russia
BRUSSELS: Nato is ready to agree on Wednesday its boldest steps yet to deter Russia from any attack in the Baltics or eastern Europe, setting out ways to rapidly deploy air, naval and ground forces without resorting to Cold War-era military bases. In an effort to dissuade Moscow after its 2014 annexation of Crimea, Nato defence ministers are...
Poroshenko sees increased risk of open war with Russia
BERLIN: The risk of open war between Russia and Ukraine is greater than it was a year ago and Russian President Vladimir Putin has begun an “information war” against Germany, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko told the German newspaper Bild. Poroshenko, who met German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin on Monday, said Russia had implemented...
Statue of controversial Bolshevik leader toppled in Ukraine
KIEV: Ukrainian activists in the eastern city of Dnipropetrovsk on Friday night toppled a statue of controversial Bolshevik leader Grigory Petrovsky, implicated in a famine that killed millions in the 1930s, city hall said. Several young men toppled the 12-tonne bronze statue of Petrovsky — nicknamed “the butcher” for his role in the...
Nato mulls first formal talks with Russia since ’14
BRUSSELS: Nato is discussing whether to invite Russia to their first formal talks since 2014, aiming to put ties damaged by the Ukraine crisis back on an even keel, diplomatic sources said on Wednesday. Despite their differences both sides recognised the need for “transparency,” the sources said, against a backdrop of a series of crises including...
Polish leader presses Nato on permanent presence
WARSAW: Polish President Andrzej Duda pressed Nato on Monday to establish “as permanent as possible” a presence in eastern Europe to counter a growing threat from Russia after its intervention in Ukraine. “I insist on one thing, that this presence should be as permanent as possible to give a security guarantee,” Duda told a press conference with...
France probes teacher’s role in avalanche tragedy
PARIS: French prosecutors said on Thursday they were investigating why a teacher led a group of students onto a closed piste in the French Alps where an avalanche killed two of them along with a Ukrainian tourist. The teacher, who was seriously injured in Wednesday’s accident, is in hospital in nearby Grenoble. A 16-year-old girl died on...
Western sanctions severely harming Russia: Putin
MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin acknowledged on Monday in an interview with German daily Bild that Western economic sanctions over the Ukraine crisis are affecting Russia. “Concerning our possibilities on the international financial markets, the sanctions are severely harming Russia,” he said in a long interview, calling the EU sanctions “a...
Dutch PM says will push for ‘yes’ in Ukraine vote
AMSTERDAM: Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said he would argue for a “yes” vote in an upcoming referendum on a treaty on closer ties between the European Union and Ukraine, which threatens to overshadow his presidency of the 28-member bloc. Rutte’s remarks came a day after European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker warned that a...
Two Ukrainian officers killed in war-torn east
KIEV: Two Ukrainian soldiers and two rebels have been killed in eastern Ukraine, marking the first deaths this year in the war-torn region, Kiev and breakway officials said on Sunday in separate tolls. “Over the last day, two Ukrainian soldiers have been killed”, military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told reporters, despite a wobbly truce...
Leaders urge full implementation of Minsk peace deal in 2016
BERLIN: The leaders of France, Germany, Russia and Ukraine agreed in a phone call on Wednesday that the Minsk peace deal for Ukraine must be fully implemented next year and said their foreign ministers would meet in one month to assess progress, the German government said in a statement. The statement from deputy government spokeswoman Christiane...
