Section: The Japan Times (Japan)
Ukraine takes historic step toward NATO
Ukraine on Tuesday took a historic step toward NATO in a parliamentary vote certain to stoke Russia’s anger ahead of talks on ending the ex-Soviet state’s separatist war. Lawmakers in the government-controlled chamber overwhelmingly adopted a bill dropping Ukraine’s nonaligned status — a classification given to states such as...
Crisis-hit Russia’s main allies moving closer to Ukraine
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev followed his Belarusian counterpart to Ukraine on Monday as Moscow’s old allies reassessed their reliance on Russia in the heat of its financial malaise. Both visits were ostensibly made to kickstart stalled peace talks between Kiev and the two Russian-speaking regions of eastern Ukraine that rebelled...
Leaders agree on Ukrainian peace talks this week
Leaders of Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany on Monday reached an agreement to call another round of Ukraine peace talks this week, the latest attempt to negotiate a settlement to the conflict that has badly strained the ties between Russia and the West. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, Vladimir Putin of Russia, French President Francois...
Belarus strongman looks to revive Ukraine peace talks
The authoritarian leader of Belarus flew into Kiev on Sunday hoping to revive stalled Ukrainian peace talks he has been hosting to calm Europe’s volatile eastern edge. But a high-ranking Ukrainian official said Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko was just as keen to use the trip to build bridges to Europe that ease his dependence on...
Obama orders exports of goods, technology to Crimea blocked
President Barack Obama on Friday said he will ban exports of goods, technology or services to Ukraine’s Crimea region, and called on Russia to end its annexation of the region. In a statement, Obama said his order “is intended to provide clarity to U.S. corporations doing business in the region and reaffirm that the United […] The post...
Russian military has close calls with civilian jetliners
Recent close shaves between Russian military planes and civilian aircraft highlight the dangers of the cat-and-mouse game being played out between Moscow and the West in European skies amid the crisis in Ukraine, analysts say. In the latest incident, Sweden said Dec. 12 that a Russian military jet nearly collided with a passenger plane south […]...
EU leaders ready long confrontation with Russia
European Union leaders warned Moscow they were ready to exercise their combined muscle over the long haul in a confrontation with an economically wounded Russia if President Vladimir Putin refused to pull back from Ukraine. “We must go beyond being reactive and defensive. As Europeans we must regain our self-confidence and realize our own...
Putin says economy will rebound after rouble’s fall, but offers no remedy
President Vladimir Putin assured Russians on Thursday that the economy will rebound after the rouble’s dramatic slide this year but offered no remedy for a deepening financial crisis. Defiant and confident at a three-hour news conference, Putin blamed the economic problems on external factors and said the crisis over Ukraine was caused by...
Danger in the skies as Russia, NATO play cat-and-mouse
Recent close shaves between Russian fighters and civilian aircraft highlight the dangers of the cat-and-mouse game being played out between Moscow and the West in European skies amid the crisis in Ukraine, analysts say. In the latest incident, Sweden said Dec. 12 that a Russian military jet nearly collided with a passenger plane south of […] The...
Ukraine slams Russia over Crimea nuclear weapons comment
Russia would violate international agreements if it placed nuclear weapons in Crimea, which it annexed from Ukraine, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said on Tuesday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared to reserve the right for Russia to put nuclear weapons in Crimea in comments to Russia’s Interfax news agency on...
