Section: Daily News & Analysis (India)
West should use all its tools, including arms, for Ukraine, says NATO general
The West should consider using all its tools to help Ukraine, including sending defensive weapons, NATO’s top military commander said on Sunday. Officials in Washington have been discussing whether to send weapons to Ukraine’s military to help them fight pro-Russian separatists who NATO says are armed and supported by Moscow. “I...
Russia, Ukraine, EU to hold further gas talks in April
Russia, Ukraine and the European Commission will hold a new round of gas supply talks next month after an initial round in Brussels on Friday ended without a deal. The talks had not been expected to yield major progress, with EU officials setting a target date of June for a new accord on how much Ukraine should pay Moscow for its gas. Speaking...
Turkey offers Ukraine $50 milllion loan to cover budget deficit
Turkey has offered a $50 million loan to Ukraine to help cover its budget deficit, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko said in a joint press conference with Turkish counterpart Tayyip Erdogan. “I’m grateful to Erdogan for the decision to offer a loan of $50 million towards covering the budget deficit,” Poroshenko said following...
EU gears up for propaganda war with Russia
The European Union is set to launch a first operation in a new propaganda war with Russia within days of EU leaders giving formal approval to the campaign at a summit on Thursday. Officials said that a dozen public relations and communications experts would start work by the end of March in Brussels with a brief to counter what the EU says is...
Fragment from MH17 crash site matches Russian-made missile system
A metal fragment from the crash site of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 matches a surface-to-air BUK rocket, a Dutch broadcaster said on Thursday, supporting a theory that the plane was downed by pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine. The fragment was recovered by a Dutch journalist from the village of Hrabove several months ago near to where...
Russia says new Ukraine law on autonomy for Donetsk violates peace deal
Russia today condemned Ukraine for ratifying two bills on greater autonomy for the rebel-held east, saying they “grossly violated” a fragile peace deal. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the adoption of the legislation by Ukraine’s parliament “in essence rewrites the agreements or, more simply put, grossly violates...
Putin says Russia will overcome all difficulties
President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday his country, hit by Western economic sanctions over the Ukraine crisis, would overcome all difficulties from outside. “We will overcome all problems and difficulties that they try to throw at us from outside,” Putin told a large crowd at a concert near the Kremlin commemorating the first...
Sweden security forces fear Russian military operations
Sweden’s security services said on Wednesday they feared possible Russian military operations against their country following an increase in espionage activity since the Ukraine crisis erupted a year ago. In their annual report, the security services identified Russian espionage as the biggest intelligence threat facing neutral Sweden,...
Ukraine parliament offers special status for rebel east, Russia criticises
Ukraine’s parliament voted on Tuesday to offer limited self-rule to pro-Russian rebels in the east to try to preserve Western support for peace efforts, despite some deputies saying it would give separatists more scope to tighten their grip on the region. The law granting “special status” to “people’s...
Kremlin rules out handing back Crimea to Ukraine
Russia said on Tuesday it would not hand back Crimea to Ukraine, despite warnings by the United States and European Union that they will not drop sanctions over the Black Sea peninsula’s annexation a year ago. “There is no occupation of Crimea. Crimea is a region of the Russian Federation and of course the subject of our regions is...
