Section: Newsweek (USA)
Putin’s ‘Last and Best Weapon’ Against Europe: Gas
In the cornfields of the Donbass, the war between the Ukrainian army and Moscow-backed rebels has sputtered to an uneasy stalemate. But as winter approaches, a new battlefront in Moscow’s proxy struggle with the West is opening up – and though it will not be as bloody, it could be no less politically dramatic than the recent shooting war....
Russia May Get Cold Shoulder From Europe in Looming Gas Wars
In the cornfields of Donbass, Ukraine, the war between the Ukrainian army and Moscow-backed rebels has sputtered to an uneasy stalemate. But as winter approaches, a new battlefront in Moscow’s proxy struggle with the West is opening up—and though it will not be as bloody, it could be no less politically dramatic than the recent shooting...
Polish Miners Block Russian Coal Imports at Border
More than 200 Polish miners blocked trains carrying Russian coal at a border passage in northern Poland to protest against the cheaper Russian coal being brought in at a time when local mines are struggling, mining union leaders said on Wednesday. Poland, which uses coal to generate about 90 percent of its electricity, produced 76.5 million...
Italian Government Moves to Seize Property of Putin Allies
The Italian government has frozen assets and seized property belonging to two Russian oligarchs on the EU’s blacklist, deemed to be in the inner circle of president Vladimir Putin. Arkady Rotenberg, Putin’s judo sparring partner, and Ukrainian-born Alexey Azarov are the first targets on the EU’s July list of Kremlin confidants...
Ukraine Says Ceasefire Violations Hold Up Creation of Buffer Zone
The Ukrainian military accused separatists and Russian troops on Sunday of continuing to shoot at government forces despite a Sept. 5 ceasefire and said Kiev would not go ahead with setting up a proposed buffer zone until the truce violations stopped. Ukraine’s warring sides agreed on Friday to withdraw artillery and other heavy weapons to...
U.S. and Canada Intercept Eight Russian Military Jets off North American Coastline
Earlier this week, U.S. and Canadian fighter jets deflected eight Russian military aircrafts nearing the North American coast. Officials confirmed that on Wednesday night, two American F-22 fighter planes intercepted several Russian military aircrafts — two Mig-31 fighter jets, two Russian Bear long-range bombers and two refueling tankers...
Russian Pollster Brands Scottish Independence Referendum “Last Century”
A Russian polling expert, Igor Borisov, has lambasted the Scottish Independence referendum process, in an interview with state media yesterday. Borisov, who used to chair Russia’s Central Election Commission, a governmental organisation, claimed that the poll failed to meet basic international norms. Voting in Scotland “do[es] not conform...
The Day Scotland Said No: A Grey Morning After in Edinburgh
Outside Holyrood on the drizzly morning when Scotland decided not to leave the Union, there is more relief than joy. “Yes peaked too soon,” some say. “The old and the rich came out,” say the radicals. “This was the settled will of the people,” says the establishment. On this morning, with independence rejected, it’s not yet clear what it...
Ukraine President Secures U.S. Military Aid but Not Weapons
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko secured $53 million in assistance from the United States on Thursday but President Barack Obama for now turned down his appeals for weapons to fight Russian-backed separatists. Images of Poroshenko sitting side by side with Obama in the Oval Office and of the warm reception he...
BBC Complains to Russia After News Crew Attacked Investigating Soldier Deaths
British broadcaster the BBC has lodged a formal protest with Russian authorities, saying one of its news crews was attacked while looking into reports Russian soldiers had been killed near Ukraine’s border. Unidentified men assaulted BBC Moscow correspondent Steve Rosenberg, a producer and a cameraman and destroyed their camera in southern...
