Section: AsiaOne (Singapore)
Merkel presses Putin, Ukraine leader on peace efforts
BERLIN – German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke Saturday to Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine’s Petro Poroshenko in a bid to arrange a mini-summit that could actually end the ex-Soviet state’s separatist war.Merkel’s office said she stressed that Poroshenko’s attempt to convene a four-way leadership meeting...
Russia may demand early payment of $4b loan to Ukraine: Minister
MOSCOW – Moscow may ask for early payment on its three billion dollar (S$4 billion) loan to Ukraine, Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said Saturday, accusing Kiev of violating loan conditions.”Ukraine has violated the conditions of this loan, specifically that Ukraine’s public debt does not surpass 60 percent of its...
Ukraine says Russia behind cyber attack on German government
BERLIN – Ukraine’s prime minister blamed Russian intelligence on Thursday for a hacker attack aginst German government websites, for which a pro-Russian group claimed responsibility.The attack on Wednesday took place before Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk was due to meet with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.The Russian group demanded...
Putin visits shelter for Ukrainians fleeing conflict on Orthodox Christmas
MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin visited a shelter for families fleeing the conflict in east Ukraine on Orthodox Christmas on Wednesday, while the Orthodox Patriarch who heads churches in Russia and Ukraine said his heart was with Ukraine’s people.Putin, who usually celebrates Christmas by attending a midnight service outside...
At least 12 Ukrainian servicemen killed in road accident
KIEV – At least 12 Ukrainian serviceman were killed and more than 20 injured when some military trucks collided with their bus in eastern Ukraine, police said on Tuesday.The accident took place late on Monday near an area of conflict with pro-Russian separatists who are fighting Ukrainian government forces, they said. The military...
Stressful times for students at Ukraine rebel universities
DONETSK, Ukraine – Third-year economics student Inna Shmarai is kind of stressing out these days.It’s not just that exams are coming up soon at the National University in the Ukrainian city of Donetsk and some of the stuff she’s been studying this term has been really complicated.What’s adding to the slight...
Ukraine reports first military death of 2015 in conflict with separatists
KIEV – Ukraine on Friday reported its first military death of 2015 in its conflict with pro-Russian separatists, saying a soldier had been killed and five others wounded in attacks by the rebels.”In the past 24 hours one Ukrainian serviceman has been killed and another five have been injured because of provocative actions (by...
Thousands of Ukraine nationalists march in Kiev
KIEV – Thousands of Ukrainian nationalists held a torchlight procession across Kiev on Thursday in honour of a 1940s anti-Soviet insurgent branded by Moscow as a Nazi collaborator whom Europe must reject.The march on what would have been Stepan Bandera’s 106th birthday moved along the same streets on which hundreds of thousands...
Welcome refugees and reject racism, Merkel says after rallies
BERLIN – Chancellor Angela Merkel urged Germans to turn their backs on a growing grass-roots movement of anti-Muslim protesters, calling them racists full of hatred, and said Europe’s biggest economy must welcome people fleeing conflict and war.In an unusually strongly worded New Year address that also condemned Russia for its actions...
After 15 years in power, Putin risks running out of luck
MOSCOW – When Vladimir Putin was handed power unexpectedly by an ailing Boris Yeltsin on the last day of the last century, his first move was to go on television to guarantee Russia the freedoms needed for a “civilised society”.Fifteen years later, his critics accuse the former KGB spy of sacrificing emerging political and...
