Section: The Gulf Today (United Arab Emirates)
‘Nemtsov was to expose Russia secret’
KIEV: Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said on Saturday Russian opposition politician Boris Nemtsov was murdered because he planned to disclose evidence of Russia’s involvement in Ukraine’s separatist conflict. Poroshenko paid tribute to Nemtsov, who was shot dead late on Friday, and said the fierce critic of President Vladimir...
Fresh soldier deaths rattle Ukraine truce
KIEV: Ukraine said on Friday three soldiers had been killed, the first fatalities in several days in the war-torn east, as a shaky truce with pro-Russian rebels appeared to gain some traction with an apparent weapons pull-back. Isolated skirmishes highlighted the fragile situation as the UN discussed the conflict exactly one year after Russia and...
Cyprus plays down naval deal with Russia
NICOSIA: Cyprus played down on Thursday an agreement granting Russian warships access to its ports and denied there was any request from Moscow to open a base on the island. The heavily indebted eurozone member has close investment and tourism ties with Russia and has repeatedly expressed misgivings about EU sanctions against Moscow. But the deal...
Ukraine withdraws arms from border
KIEV: Ukraine’s military on Thursday said it had started the withdrawal of heavy weapons from the frontline, bolstering a stuttering peace plan as the United States and Russia traded barbs over the conflict. The announced pull-back — a key part of a peace deal negotiated earlier this month — comes after a shaky truce that was meant to come...
Ceasefire takes hold in Ukraine
KIEV: A UN-backed ceasefire showed signs of taking hold in Ukraine on Wednesday, but tensions remained high after the US accused Russia of “lies” and Britain ordered a small troop deployment to train Kiev’s forces. Russia in turn has warned it could within days cut off gas supplies to Ukraine — and, by extension, to parts of the European...
‘Total ceasefire’ sought in Ukraine
PARIS: Foreign ministers from Ukraine, Russia, Germany and France called on Tuesday for a total ceasefire in eastern Ukraine as Russian President Vladimir Putin ruled out the “apocalyptic scenario” of all-out war. Top diplomats from the four countries, whose leaders hammered out the initial peace plan in the Belarussian capital Minsk 12 days ago,...
Kiev says cannot withdraw heavy weapons
KIEV: Ukraine’s military said on Monday it could not start withdrawing heavy weapons from the front line in the east as required under a tenuous ceasefire because pro-Russian separatists who advanced last week were still attacking its positions. A truce to end fighting that has killed more than 5,600 people appeared stillborn last week...
Kiev points finger at Russia after 2 killed in blast
KHARKIV: At least two people were killed on Sunday when a blast struck a crowd at a pro-Ukrainian rally far from eastern Ukraine’s war zone, and Kiev said it had arrested suspects who had been armed and instructed in Russia. Ukrainian authorities fear violence could spread from two rebellious provinces to other areas in the mainly...
40,000 attend Moscow pro-Putin rally
MOSCOW: Tens of thousands of strongman Vladimir Putin’s supporters rallied on Saturday near the Kremlin walls, a year after protests in neighbouring Ukraine led to the fall of its pro-Russian president. The demonstrators, some dressed in fatigues, waved Russian flags and many sported the black and orange St George ribbon, a symbol of...
Ukraine truce be fully respected, says Merkel
KIEV: Germany and France demanded on Friday that a crumbling Ukraine truce be “fully respected” even as pro-Russian rebels celebrated a battlefield victory in a strategic town and exchanged artillery fire elsewhere with government troops. “The ceasefire has been violated several times,” French President Francois Hollande said in a joint Paris...
