Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Blasts roar near Donetsk airport in Ukraine
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s office on Saturday said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin had discussed steps “for giving the cease-fire a stable character” in a telephone conversation. Fighting between pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government troops has ravaged the already teetering Ukrainian economy, claimed at...
Blasts, rockets reported during Ukrainian cease-fire with rebels
Little more than a day after Ukraine and pro-Russia separatists signed a cease-fire, witnesses in the Ukrainian port of Mariupol reported sustained explosions outside the city and a volunteer battalion of Ukrainian fighters says Grad rockets were fired at its positions. A statement from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s office said he...
Mixed views in East Europe on higher NATO defense
Some who spent decades under the Soviet yoke — politicians and ordinary people — think that the move could enrage Moscow and undermine the sense of security they have felt since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the expansion of NATO in the 1990s. The region’s long-standing distrust of Russia became more acute following Russia’s...
Ukraine cease-fire appears to hold
A statement from Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko’s office said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed steps “for giving the cease-fire a stable character” in a telephone conversation Saturday. Col. Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s national security council, told reporters that rebels had fired at...
For Obama, a glimpse of good old days in Europe
The criticism of Obama’s foreign policy has thrust the White House into a defensive posture and sent the president’s approval ratings on international matters tumbling. During meetings in Estonia, Baltic leaders heaped praise on Obama, making clear their desire to have a beefed up U.S. military presence in their country as they warily...
Ukraine national guard: cease-fire holding
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — The head of Ukraine’s national guard says the cease-fire called in the country’s rebellious east appears to be holding despite some violations early on. National Guard Commander Stepan Poltorak was quoted by the Interfax news agency Saturday as saying that although some shooting took place up to about 45 minutes...
Malaysia to send team to jet crash site in Ukraine
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Malaysia aims to send a search team to the crash site in Ukraine of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 before winter sets in to gather physical evidence to prove that it was shot down, Prime Minister Najib Razak said Saturday. Najib said the government has “pretty conclusive” intelligence reports about what...
NATO creates ‘spearhead’ to deter Russia
NEWPORT, Wales (AP) — NATO’s creation of a rapid-reaction “spearhead” force to protect Eastern Europe from Russian bullying reflects a cool-eyed calculation that Vladimir Putin and his generals won’t risk head-to-head confrontation with the U.S. and its nuclear-capable Western European allies. The force was ordered into...
Talks on Ukraine cease-fire start in Belarus
MINSK, Belarus (AP) — Talks expected to bring a much-anticipated cease-fire to the fighting in eastern Ukraine began Friday in the Belarusian capital even as the rebels kept pressing their offensive against a strategic port city. Ukraine ready lost about half its coastline, several major ports and untold billions in Black Sea mineral rights with...
NATO to outline force aimed at deterring Russia
NEWPORT, Wales (AP) — NATO leaders will back plans Friday for positioning more troops and military equipment in Eastern Europe, establishing a rapid response force aimed at easing anxiety among member states near Russia’s border and deterring the Kremlin against replicating its provocations in Ukraine elsewhere in the region. While...
