Section: Australia&NZ
Kiev slams Eurovision call to allow Russian singer (AFP)
Kiev (AFP) – Ukraine on Saturday complained of “unprecedented and unacceptable” calls from the Eurovision Song Contest’s organisers for it to lift an entry ban on Russia’s contestant. …read more Source: The West...
Eurovision threatens to ban Ukraine over Russian singer row (AFP)
Berlin (AFP) – The organisers of the Eurovision song contest have threatened to ban Ukraine from future competitions unless it allows Russia’s entrant to enter the country and take part in this year’s show which Kiev is hosting. …read more Source: The West...
UN chief urges Ukraine and separatists to honor cease-fire
UNITED NATIONS (AP) ” U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is welcoming a new cease-fire agreement between Ukraine and Russian-backed separatists in the country’s east and urging all parties to honor it.U.N. spokesman Stephane… …read more Source: The New Zealand...
US vows to uphold Russia sanctions until it respects pledges
BRUSSELS (AP) ” U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says Washington will ease sanctions against Russia over the conflict in Ukraine only when Moscow respects commitments to help restore peace.Tillerson said Friday that “the United… …read more Source: The New Zealand...
Tillerson demands US’s NATO allies pay up (AFP)
Brussels (AFP) – US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson pressed NATO allies Friday to ramp up military spending and denounced Russia’s “aggression” in Ukraine, toughening the Trump administration’s tone toward Moscow. …read more Source: The West...
Ukrainian security official dies in car blast
MOSCOW (AP) ” A Ukrainian Security Service officer has been killed when his car exploded in the Black Sea port city of Mariupol.Authorities labeled the Friday morning blast an act of terrorism. Mariupol is the most strategically… …read more Source: The New Zealand...
Ukraine gov’t pledges to cease fire in the east on Saturday
MOSCOW (AP) ” Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has ordered his country’s troops to cease firing on Russia-backed separatists on Saturday.Fighting between government troops and the separatists has been raging in eastern Ukraine… …read more Source: The New Zealand...
NATO, Russia, share troop information, at odds over Ukraine
BRUSSELS (AP) ” NATO’s chief says the allies and Russia remain at loggerheads over the conflict in Ukraine but have exchanged briefings on their troop movements elsewhere in Europe to help ease tensions.NATO Secretary General Jens… …read more Source: The New Zealand...
Ukrainian president condemns attack on Polish Consulate
MOSCOW (AP) ” Ukraine’s president has condemned an overnight attack on the Polish Consulate in a western city that appeared to involve a shell fired from a grenade launcher.Petro Poroshenko has ordered extra protection for consulates… …read more Source: The New Zealand...
Russia willing to re-start NZ free-trade talks frozen over Crimea conflict
In 2014, New Zealand suspended free trade negotiations with Russia and its customs union partners Belarus and Kazakhstan. …read more Source: The National Business...
