Section: The Gulf Today (United Arab Emirates)
Gorbachev warns of war as EU sets new Russia curbs
MOSCOW: Europe Union (EU) prepared on Thursday to draft even tougher sanctions against Russia over Ukraine as ex-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev warned against the danger of an increasingly isolated Kremlin fighting back. The last Soviet leader’s words of caution came with the daily death toll in Ukraine’s separatist east spiking...
Putin eyes benefits as rebels gain in Ukraine
MOSCOW: Boxed into a corner by a financial crisis and the West’s refusal to drop sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin has come out fighting. After a relative lull in the conflict in east Ukraine since a ceasefire deal was reached last September, separatists have launched a new offensive. Kiev says the...
EU threatens new Russia sanctions
KIEV: European Union leaders on Tuesday threatened new sanctions against Russia over a bloody offensive by pro-Kremlin Ukrainian rebels, backing, the latest bid to pressure a defiant President Vladimir Putin. The decision came a day after Standard and Poor’s downgraded Russia’s foreign currency rating to junk because of its eroding...
Ukraine territories put on high alert
KIEV: Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Monday the government had ordered all territories to be on high alert due to the escalating conflict in separatist eastern areas of Luhansk and Donetsk. “The government has decided to introduce a state of emergency in Donetsk and Luhansk regions and a state of high alert across all...
Rebels attack Ukraine troops
KIEV: Pro-Russian rebels launched new attacks against Ukrainian government positions on Sunday, the Kiev army said, as Western countries threatened more sanctions against Moscow for backing a new separatist offensive. Recent days have seen the worst fighting in eastern Ukraine since a September ceasefire, restarting a war that has already killed...
Rockets kill 21 in Ukrainian city
KIEV: Indiscriminate rocket fire slammed into a market, schools and homes on Saturday in the eastern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, killing at least 21 people, authorities said. Ukraine’s top rebel leader announced that an offensive had begun on the strategically important port. The report came a day after the rebels rejected a peace deal and...
Ukraine rebels vow to conquer more territory
DONETSK: Pro-Russian rebels on Friday vowed to conquer more territory in eastern Ukraine and ruled out peace talks after Kiev retreated from a long-disputed airport, casting aside Europe’s latest push for a truce. The defiant comments from Donetsk rebel chief Alexander Zakharchenko came as Ukraine renewed allegations of Russian army units...
Bus shelling, clashes kill 41 in Ukraine
KIEV: At least 41 people were killed in Ukraine’s east on Thursday, one of the deadliest days in the separatist war, with a bloody bus shelling in Donetsk as government forces abandoned their defence of the city’s strategic airport. In a graphic illustration of the degenerating nine-month conflict, pro-Russian rebels also paraded some...
9,000 Russian troops backing rebels: Ukraine
KIEV: President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday that more than 9,000 Russian troops were backing Ukrainian separatist fighters that Moscow will be under pressure to reel in at high-stakes peace talks in Berlin. Poroshenko’s claims followed days of heavy fighting that has left an already shaky September truce in tatters and forced the...
Russian president to visit Hungary on Feb.17
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin will visit Hungary on Feb.17 with controversial Prime Minister Viktor Orban seen as one of his closest European allies. “We will have bilateral and geopolitical issues on the agenda… including the energy security of central Europe as it is one of the most important issues for the region,” Hungarian...
