Section: Newsweek (USA)
NATO to Create New ‘Spearhead’ Force in Response to Russian Threat
NATO leaders will respond to the Ukraine crisis by agreeing this week to create a “spearhead” rapid reaction force, potentially including several thousand troops, that could be sent to a hotspot in as little as two days, officials said on Monday. The 28-nation alliance already has a rapid reaction force but U.S. President Barack Obama...
Merkel Defends Arming Kurds and Calls Islamic State a Threat to Europe
German Chancellor Angela Merkel defended her government’s taboo-breaking decision to send arms to Kurds fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq, telling parliament on Monday that the group posed a major security threat to Germany and Europe. A day after Berlin announced it would send anti-tank rockets, assault rifles and hand grenades to...
Russia Has Threatened Nuclear Attack, Says Ukraine Defence Minister
Kiev has received threats of nuclear retaliation from Russia through unofficial channels if it continues to fight pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, the Ukrainian Minister of Defence, Valeriy Heletey, announced on his Facebook page on Monday.’ “The Russian side has threatened on several occasions across unofficial channels that, in...
In St. Petersburg, the Ghosts of Petrograd
Great cities rarely change their names. It is true, as the old song avers, that old New York was once New Amsterdam, but the change was precipitated by an English takeover of the Dutch colony. To keep the old name would have been like asking a hotel not to change the bedsheets from the room’s previous occupant. Constantinople became...
Ukrainian Military ‘Battling Russian Tank Battalion’ Near Donetsk
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military said on Monday its forces were battling a Russian tank battalion for control of a vital airport in the east of the country as President Petro Poroshenko accused Moscow of “direct and open aggression” against his country. Ukrainian coastguards meanwhile searched for two seamen missing...
EU Threatens Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine Aggression, but Timing Vague
The European Union threatened Russia with new trade sanctions if Moscow fails to start reversing its action in Ukraine, but sharp divisions among leaders at a summit in Brussels left the timing of any measures uncertain. After a lengthy briefing by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who warned “full-scale war” was imminent if...
Russian Tanks Flatten Ukrainian Town, Ukraine Military Says
KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s military said on Saturday its forces had pulled out of areas to the east of the border-area city of Luhansk under pressure from Russian-backed rebels and that Russian tanks had been used to “destroy virtually every house” in one small town. “Direct military aggression against eastern...
Russian Politician Hospitalized After Reporting on Soldier Funerals
MOSCOW (Reuters) – A Russian politician said on Saturday he had been badly beaten after publicising the mysterious funerals of two soldiers who may have died while fighting in Ukraine. Lev Shlosberg, a newspaper publisher who represents the liberal opposition Yabloko party in the regional assembly in the northwestern city of Pskov, said he...
Live Updates: EU Threatens More Sanctions Against Russia Over Ukraine Escalation
The European Union has threatened to launch a fresh round of sanctions against Russia in response to ongoing aggressive military action in eastern Ukraine. The group of nations is prepared to ramp up sanctions against Russia, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso told Ukraine’s President Petro Poroshenko at a summit in Brussels...
Putin Orders Rebels to Allow Surrounded Ukrainian Troops to Escape
Pro-Russian separatists fighting in eastern Ukraine will comply with a Kremlin request to allow surrounded Ukrainian government troops to safely leave rebel-held areas. Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk announced on Friday he wanted Ukraine to join NATO — the mutual defense treaty between the United States and European countries....
