Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Russia takes hard line on ‘reset’ of relations with U.S.
The news conference was dominated by questions about the conflicts in Ukraine, where Russia backs separatist rebels in the east, and in Syria, where Russia has intervened on the side of President Bashar Assad. Lavrov denied reports that Russia had told Assad to step down or had offered him political asylum. When the Syrian leader visited Moscow...
Polish, Lithuanian and Ukrainian brigade to be ready in 2017
The force is to take part in U.N. peacekeeping missions and will also help Ukraine — which is not a member of NATO — upgrade its armed forces. Warsaw would like the summit to make decisions on the permanent placement of NATO troops in the area, but some western alliance members point to a 1997 agreement with Russia barring that. …read more...
The Latest: Belgium mulls EU sanctions against Greece
The Belgian government says that because Greece is too weak to guard its own borders, it should face an EU “sanction mechanism” under which the rising number of refugees entering the country would effectively be forced to stay there. Belgian Migration State Secretary Theo Francken told the VRT network that “the Greeks now need...
Burials begin for Burkina Faso nationals killed by jihadists
OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso (AP) — Burials have begun for the 10 Burkina Faso nationals killed in last week’s attack on a cafe and hotel in the capital, Ouagadougou, highlighting the local toll suffered in the latest West African country targeted by Islamic extremists. For many in Ouagadougou, the attack — the first of its kind in Burkina...
Analysis: Russia’s tone familiar after spy poisoning report
MOSCOW (AP) — President Vladimir Putin has made no public comment on the sensational report by a British judge that concluded the Kremlin leader probably approved a 2006 plan to kill a Russian dissident in London. Moscow apparently believes that Western leaders’ eagerness to stem the tide of Syrian refugees will make them hesitant to push...
Ukraine toughens position in negotiations to end conflict
[…] after a meeting Wednesday with the so-called Contact Group trying to implement the pact, Ukraine’s representative — former president Leonid Kuchma — said elections were impossible without border control, his spokeswoman Darka Olifer said in a statement on Facebook. …read more Source: San Francisco...
Latvia marks 25th anniversary of resistance to Soviet rule
Hundreds of people gathered in Riga’s old town, where white-striped burgundy Latvian flags flapped from buildings and on rooftops of the freezing capital. In 1991, more than 15,000 people across the country participated in erecting barricades, including former policeman Renars Zalais, who was wounded in an attack by elite Soviet commandos...
Kerry visits Switzerland for talks with Russian counterpart
ZURICH (AP) — U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Switzerland for talks with Russia’s foreign minister on Syria and Ukraine. Kerry arrived in Zurich early Wednesday and is hoping to resolve differences with Russia on who is eligible to join U.N.-mediated peace talks for Syria that are due to begin next week. Kerry will also be pushing...
4 members of Ukrainian family among dead in Burkina Faso
MOSCOW (AP) — Four members of a Ukrainian family, including a 9-year-old child, were among those killed when al-Qaida fighters attacked a popular cafe and hotel in Burkina Faso’s capital of Ouagadougou, Ukraine’s foreign minister said Sunday. The Italian foreign ministry said in a statement Sunday the 9-year-old son of Gaetano...
Ukraine expects to restore control over rebel east this year
A military conflict between government forces and Russia-backed rebels has killed more than 9,000 people and left parts of the Ukrainian industrial heartland in ruin since fighting broke out there in April 2014. …read more Source: San Francisco...
