Section: Boston Herald (USA)
Belarus' president promises help for Ukraine
MOSCOW — Belarus’ authoritarian president on Sunday promised to help Ukraine as it struggles through its pro-Russia separatist insurgency and economic hardships.Ukraine’s year of crisis has been unsettling to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, who has ruled autocratically since 1994, and wants to fend off any protest movement...
Russia dismisses new US sanctions as useless
MOSCOW — Russia on Saturday dismissed new U.S. sanctions as useless and said it was poised to wait as long as it takes for the U.S. to recognize its historic right to the Crimean peninsula.Following several rounds of sanctions earlier this year, President Barack Obama on Friday approved new restrictions on Crimea which Russia annexed in March...
Russian ruble is mixed after Tuesday's collapse
MOSCOW — Russia’s embattled ruble extended a week of catastrophic losses by dropping 4 percent at the opening of trading in Moscow.The world’s worst-performing currency along with the Ukrainian hryvnia, the ruble has lost more than 50 percent of its value this year. It traded at 70.7 per dollar Wednesday morning, or 4 percent lower...
Russian ruble on the way down
MOSCOW — Russia’s embattled currency, the ruble, is down 3.5 percent at the opening of trading in Moscow.The ruble lost over 15 percent of its value this week despite Tuesday’s massive interest rate hike by the Russian central bank.The ruble has fallen sharply in recent weeks and is down more than 50 percent since January, due to...
Russian ruble slides again despite rate hike
MOSCOW — The Russian ruble faced intense selling pressure Tuesday, falling at one stage by a whopping 20 percent to historic lows despite a massive pre-dawn interest rate hike from the country’s central bank.The surprise decision to raise the rate to 17 percent from 10.5 percent came in the middle of the night and represented a desperate...
Russian ruble down sharply despite rate hike
MOSCOW — The Russian ruble has regained some ground after declining by a whopping 20 percent earlier Tuesday.The ruble extended Monday’s collapse — when it declined by 10 percent — despite the pre-dawn interest rate increase to 17 to 10.5 percent by the country’s central bank.It traded at 72 per dollar late Tuesday afternoon — more...
UN says death toll in eastern Ukraine up to 4,707
GENEVA — Fighting in eastern Ukraine has killed at least at least 4,707 people since the conflict began in mid-April and more than a quarter of the recorded deaths have come since a much-ignored cease-fire, U.N. rights investigators said Monday.A new report from the U.N. team in Ukraine says at least 1,357 of the fatalities have been recorded...
Russia reaches out to Europe's far-right parties
VIENNA — A Russian loan to France’s National Front. Invitations to Moscow for leaders of Austria’s Freedom Party. Praise for Vladimir Putin from the head of Britain’s anti-European Union party.As the diplomatic chill over Ukraine deepens, the Kremlin seems keener than ever to enlist Europe’s far-right parties in its...
Ukraine to extend truce with separatists
KIEV, Ukraine — Ukraine will continue upholding a truce with Russian-backed separatists following a day largely free of exchanges of fire between the warring sides, a military spokesman in Kiev said Wednesday.Andriy Lysenko said there have been attacks on government positions over the previous day, but noted a significant reduction in their...
Dutch govt defends handling of Ukraine crash probe
AMSTERDAM — The Dutch government has rejected a call for it to hand the investigation of the Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 disaster over to the United Nations, saying it is doing the best it can under difficult circumstances.Flight 17 was shot down over territory held by pro-Russia rebels in eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing 298 people. Parts of...
