Section: The Malaysian Insider (Malaysia)
Putin welcomes Brics leaders amid standoff with West
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday welcomed the leaders of emerging powers for a summit Moscow hopes will show it not isolated despite the standoff with the West over Ukraine. The Kremlin sees Brics – a group of emerging economies that includes Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa – as a growing economic and political…...
Ukraine launches Western-style police force as marker for reform
The first 2,000 recruits of a new Ukrainian police force passed out in the capital Kiev at the weekend, intended by the government as a visible sign of its commitment to shake off a deep-rooted culture of corruption in public institutions. Trained by US and Canadian forces, and given less militaristic uniforms and the name “Politsiya” to...
Nato won’t be ‘dragged into arms race’ with Russia
Nato Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday the alliance will not get dragged into an arms race with Russia but must counter Moscow’s “aggressive actions” in Ukraine. Defence ministers are due to approve measures including more than doubling Nato’s rapid response force, while the US on Tuesday announced it would...
US to pre-position tanks, artillery in Baltics, eastern Europe
The United States will pre-position tanks, artillery and other military equipment in eastern and central Europe, US Defence Secretary Ash Carter said on Tuesday, moving to reassure NATO allies unnerved by Russian involvement in Ukraine. Carter made the announcement a little over 200 km from the Russian border, in the Estonian capital...
EU prolongs Russian economic sanctions for six months
EU foreign ministers formally agreed today to prolong to January 2016 damaging economic sanctions against Russia to ensure it fully implements Ukraine peace accords, officials said. “EU has extended economic sanctions against Russia until 31 January 2016, with a view to complete implementation of (the) Minsk agreement,” an EU...
US accuses Russia of trying to recreate Soviet-era
The United States and its allies won’t let Russia “drag us back to the past”, US Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in an address in Berlin today, as he accused Moscow of trying to re-create a Soviet-era sphere of influence. Russia’s intervention in Ukraine has put Nato allies in eastern Europe on edge and triggered a...
3 killed as clashes grip Ukraine ahead of talks
Ukraine on Sunday reported the deaths of two soldiers while pro-Russian rebels accused Kiev’s forces of killing a civilian in clashes preceding crunch talks aimed at ending the 15-month war. Kiev military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said two government troops died and six were wounded in shelling across swathes of the eastern separatist...
New deaths and diplomatic warfare rattle Ukraine truce
Ukraine’s faltering peace deal suffered fresh setbacks yesterday when Kiev reported the deaths of six soldiers and accused Moscow of abetting an attack on one of its Russian consulates. The latest fatalities in the twisting and hotly disputed zone separating Ukrainian forces from their pro-Russian foes in the separatist east add to the...
Isolated Putin seeks sympathetic hearing in Italy
Vladimir Putin makes a rare international outing tomorrow with a high-profile visit to Italy and the Vatican two days after the G7 threatened him with tougher sanctions over Ukraine. The Russian president is due in Milan to visit his country’s pavilion at the World Expo and will travel on to Rome, where an audience with Pope Francis...
Obama says Putin on doomed drive to recreate Soviet glories
US President Barack Obama accused President Vladimir Putin of wrecking Russia’s economy in a doomed drive to recreate the glories of the Soviet empire and G7 leaders said they could step up sanctions against Moscow if violence in Ukraine escalated. At the conclusion of a Group of Seven summit in the Bavarian Alps, leaders expressed...
