Section: San Francisco Chronicle (USA)
EU links lifting Russia sanctions to peace in Ukraine
BRUSSELS — European Union leaders said Thursday that they won’t lift economic sanctions against Russia until the peace agreement on eastern Ukraine is fully implemented. Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk met Thursday with Tusk ahead of the summit and accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of trying to divide Europe over Ukraine....
UK military trainers in Ukraine for medical, tactical drills
Britain’s defense ministry said it aims to boost Ukrainian armed forces’ defensive capability in their armed campaign against Russian-backed separatists in the east. British trainers will run a series of combat first aid courses at bases across the country, Ukrainian defense ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzianik said....
Putin urges Russian business leaders to return capital
In an apparent reference to the possibility of further U.S. and European Union sanctions on Russia for its involvement in the Ukraine crisis, Putin warned of a possible “limit on the use of these capital amounts which are located in foreign jurisdictions.” …read more Source: San Francisco...
Ukraine urges EU to keep up sanctions pressure on Russia
The EU has visa bans and asset freezes in place targeting 150 individuals, including high-ranking Russians, and 37 entities such as banks, companies and rebel groups. If Russia divides European opinion on sanctions, “this will be the biggest success story for President Putin,” Yatsenyuk said, after talks in Brussels with European...
Putin says Russia regained ‘historic roots’ in Crimea
MOSCOW (AP) — Speaking to tens of thousands of supporters just outside the Kremlin walls, President Vladimir Putin has described Russia’s annexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula as a move to protect ethnic Russians and regain the nation’s “historic roots.” […] despite the economic downturn and a sharp...
Sweden: Russia biggest threat, 1/3 of its envoys are spies
SOLNA, Sweden (AP) — Swedish security service SAPO on Wednesday accused Russia of using as many as one-third of its diplomatic staff in the Scandinavian country for clandestine intelligence gathering. Naming Russia as “the biggest intelligence threat against Sweden, followed by Iran and China,” he said SAPO last year stopped several...
Crimea exiles fight to keep Ukraine unity message alive
Schekun’s crusade for Ukrainian unity, which he continues today in exile, began as pro-Moscow sentiment among the majority ethnic Russian population reached fever pitch on the peninsula. Russian state television stations already fed them a steady diet of stories about unrest being led by rabid Ukrainian nationalists bent on oppression of...
Russia to send new missiles to Baltic region
MOSCOW — Russia plans to station state-of-the art missiles in its westernmost Baltic exclave and deploy nuclear-capable bombers to Crimea as part of massive war games to showcase its resurgent military power amid bitter tensions with the West over Ukraine. The Iskander missiles will be sent to the Kaliningrad region that borders NATO members...
Russia to send new missiles to Baltic exclave on maneuvers
MOSCOW (AP) — Russia plans to station state-of-the art missiles to its westernmost Baltic exclave and deploy nuclear-capable bombers to Crimea as part of massive war games intended to showcase the nation’s resurgent military power amid bitter tensions with the West over Ukraine. The Iskander missiles will be sent to the Kaliningrad region...
AP PHOTOS: Top pictures from Europe and Africa
LONDON (AP) — Protests hit Spain and Greece last week, as demonstrators marched in Madrid against a new security law and in the Greek city of Thessaloniki to protest continuing austerity measures. In a more modern war zone, separatists and residents walked among the ruins of eastern Ukraine after months of fighting. …read more Source: San...
