Section: Newsweek (USA)
1,500 Russian Troops Begin Drone Training Exercises
More than 1,500 troops from Russia’s military base in the disputed region of South Ossetia have begun field exercises with the assistance of drones in nearby practice facilities, the Russian Ministry of Defence reported today. South Ossetia has been under territorial dispute since the 1990s after local groups declared their independence...
Why Mariupol Residents Are Hungry for a Big Mac
In 1995, New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman coined the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention, also known as “McPeace.” The idea was that countries stable enough economically and politically to court a McDonald’s franchise share too many democratic values to go to war with one another. “People in McDonald’s countries,”...
Russia’s Ukrainian Retreat
Is Vladimir Putin mounting a charm offensive, a military offensive or both? Last month, Russia’s president greeted U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry with conspicuous warmth at a newly built palace in Sochi for their first meeting since the beginning of the Ukraine crisis. They talked about eastern Ukraine’s future not as a piece of...
G7 Leaders Take a Hard Line on Russia
KRUEN, Germany (Reuters) – Group of Seven (G7) leaders vowed at a summit in the Bavarian Alps on Sunday to keep sanctions against Russia in place until President Vladimir Putin and Moscow-backed separatists fully implement the terms of a peace deal for Ukraine. The Ukraine conflict and a long-running debt standoff between Greece and its...
Obama Begins G7 Trip With Lighthearted Meeting
KRUEN, Germany (Reuters) – Joking that he wanted to buy a pair of lederhosen leather shorts, U.S. President Barack Obama drank beer and mixed with Bavarians in a light-hearted start to his trip to Germany, before turning to more serious talks on the conflict in Ukraine. Introduced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Obama spoke warmly to a...
Observers Spot Russian Army Insignia in Eastern Ukraine as Tension Rises
International observers in eastern Ukraine have found what appears to be further evidence of Russian support for separatist fighters in the area, reporting that they spotted soldiers in Russian military garb in a car with Russian licence plates near a fenced-off camp area. Russia continues to deny that it has sent troops to fight in eastern...
Ukraine: Pro-Russian Artillery Barrage Shatters Cease-Fire
In the predawn hours of June 3, pro-Russian separatist tanks and artillery bombarded Ukrainian troops in the eastern town of Marinka, spurring Ukrainian military officials and media to speculate whether a major separatist offensive, anticipated for months, had begun. “There were many casualties. Krasnohorivka and Marinka are on fire,” Ukrainian...
Ukraine’s Cease-Fire Wavers With New Reports of Civilian Casualties
The Ukrainian military and pro-Russian separatists are each claiming that the other side violated a cease-fire at a battle near Donetsk. The groups have had numerous failed cease-fires over the last year in a conflict that has killed thousands. Separatists claim 15 people in the territory they illegally annexed from Ukraine were killed on...
Polish NATO Base to Double in Size
The Polish military base which has been NATO’s easternmost headquarters for over a decade is set to double in size, becoming the focal point for the alliance’s eastern defences. Russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine has prompted former Eastern Bloc states who are NATO members to express concern that they may be the next...
Russian Paratroopers to Conduct Over 1,000 Exercises This Summer
Russia’s Airborne Troops (VDV) are set to conduct over 1,000 combat readiness exercises in the summer period across the territory of Russia, the country’s Ministry of Defence announced today. Over the last year Russia has ramped up military drills in response to the crisis in neighbouring Ukraine, where Russian servicemen have led a...
