Section: The Gulf Today (United Arab Emirates)
France will not recognise Crimea ‘annexation’
Paris: President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday France refuses to recognise Russia’s “annexation” of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea. Speaking after talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko in Paris, Macron said: “France is committed to Ukraine’s sovereignty with its recognised borders.” Both Macron and Poroshenko said they...
Putin visits annexed Crimea, triggering Kiev protest
Moscow: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday visited Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula Moscow annexed in 2014, a trip quickly denounced by Kiev as a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. Putin made a stop at the legendary Artek holiday camp for young people, dating from Soviet times, on the shores of the Black Sea, the Kremlin said in a...
Russia cancels US meeting over sanctions: US official
Washington: Russia has canceled a meeting with senior US diplomats in the wake of Washington’s decision to reinforce sanctions imposed over its occupation of Crimea, US officials said on Wednesday. US Under Secretary of State Tom Shannon had been due in St Petersburg later this week to meet and mend diplomatic fences with Russia’s...
G7 ready to beef up Crimea curbs against Russia
TAORMINA: G7 nations including the United States said on Saturday that they stood ready to strengthen sanctions imposed against Russia after its annexation of Crimea if Moscow’s actions warranted it. “We recall that the duration of sanctions is clearly linked to Russia’s complete implementation of its commitments in the Minsk...
Ukraine starts to judge its judges in anti-graft drive
KIEV: Ukrainian judge Artur Yemelianov has acknowledged in an online declaration that he owns a Breguet watch worth nearly a third of his annual salary and keeps piles of cash. On Jan.12 he was suspended for three months after prosecutors opened a criminal case against him related to how commercial law cases were allocated to judges, according to...
Creator of Ukrainian anti-graft database accused of embezzlement
KIEV: The head of a Ukrainian software firm tasked with building a landmark anti-corruption computer program is suspected of stealing Western funds from the project and funneling the cash overseas, General Prosecutor Yuriy Lutsenko said on Wednesday. The boss of the software company, Yuriy Novikov, strongly denied the accusation and a leading...
Germany, Ukraine say aim to get back to Minsk ceasefire deal
BERLIN: German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko agreed on Saturday to try to improve the security situation in eastern Ukraine and return to implementing the Minsk ceasefire deal after an upsurge in violence there. A ceasefire agreement signed in February 2015 in Minsk that aims to end the conflict between...
16 Ukrainian tourists injured in Turkey road accident
ISTANBUL: Turkish officials say 16 Ukrainian tourists have been injured in a traffic accident in western Turkey. The Mugla governor’s office said in a statement that the bus was travelling on Thursday from popular tourist destination of Bodrum to Denizli province when it skidded on a rainy road and tipped over. The group’s Turkish...
Ukraine shelves corruption bill angering West
Kiev: Ukrainian lawmakers bowed on Wednesday to International Monetary Fund pressure and shelved a highly-controversial bill that critics feared would have defanged the former Soviet republic’s vital fight against corruption. The decision to rework legislation that Kiev’s Western allies said was meant to protect top politicians and...
Ukraine blocks Russia’s top social media networks
Kiev: Ukraine on Tuesday blocked Russia’s most popular social media networks and an internet search engine in response to the Kremlin’s alleged backing of a three-year separatist war in the east. The decision sparked an immediate outcry from Ukrainian internet users and freedom of speech advocates. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov...
