Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
Fed up with failing peace, Ukraine rebels eager to fight
The hollowness of the phony armistice was rudely exposed this week as a ferocious one-day battle erupted on the western edge of the main rebel stronghold, Donetsk. At the intersection of a country lane leading out of Dokuchayevsk, about 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Donetsk, separatist militiaman take turns on guard by an anti-tank rocket...
Merkel pursues ambitious agenda for G7 summit
Heading into this weekend’s meeting of what is now the G-7 — after Russia’s removal from the club over its actions in Ukraine — Merkel is pursuing a much broader agenda, bolstered by Germany’s growing clout and her own increased political prominence. […] I think the tone will be different. Since the 2007 summit, Germany...
AP Interview: Canada’s Harper says Russia can’t rejoin G-7
TORONTO (AP) — Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Thursday that Russia should never be allowed back in the Group of 7 as long as Vladimir Putin is president. Harper said in an exclusive interview with The Associated Press that he expects the group won’t ever let Putin back in. Harper noted Russia has ramped up its long-range bomber...
Ukraine’s president warns of possibility of rebel offensive
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has warned of a possible large-scale offensive by separatist forces in the east, one day after a major battle erupted on the western edge of the main separatist rebel stronghold. …read more Source: San Francisco...
Russia says Latvian weapons-smuggling ring broken up
The service, known by its initials FSB, said in a statement Thursday that more than 30 weapons were seized in a raid in the Pskov region, which borders Latvia and Estonia. Latvia and its former Soviet Baltic neighbors are unsettled by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and alleged supply of arms and troops to separatist rebels in Ukraine’s...
Pentagon seeks easing of ban on Russian rockets for space mission
WASHINGTON — After Russia annexed Crimea last year, Congress passed legislation that forced the Pentagon to stop buying Russian rocket engines that have been used since 2000 to help launch U.S. military and intelligence satellites into space. The ban applies only to national security missions, but the Pentagon’s request has also frustrated...
Deaths, surge in fighting in Ukraine threaten cease-fire
KIEV, Ukraine (AP) — More civilian deaths and a new and unusually intense round of fighting Wednesday in eastern Ukraine are rekindling fears that a shaky cease-fire deal reached in February may be teetering toward collapse. Reports of casualties among government and separatist fighters have continued unabated, but deaths among noncombatants had...
5 die in eastern Ukraine despite cease-fire
The hostilities have subdued since the September cease-fire but fighting between Russia-backed separatists and government troops still continues across the front line. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Zeid Raad al-Hussein, said there are “alarming reports of summary executions by armed groups” and his office is...
Russia bans 89 European politicians from entering country
MOSCOW — Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov needs to explain why 89 politicians from 17 European countries have been banned from entering Russia and confirm their names, an opposition lawmaker said Sunday in a formal inquiry. Dmitry Gudkov, the sole member of Russia’s parliament who opposes the Kremlin, also told Lavrov that while he...
Report: Ex-Georgian leader named governor of Ukraine region
MOSCOW (AP) — Local news reports say former Georgian president Mikhail Saakashvili has been appointed governor of Ukraine’s troubled Odessa region. Last May, 48 people died in violence between supporters of both sides, most of them pro-Russians who took shelter in a building that caught fire after opponents threw firebombs into it....
