Section: The Washington Post (USA)
Putin’s Eurasian Economic Union starts in 2015 with curtailed ambitions
MOSCOW — It was to have been Russian President Vladimir Putin’s top foreign policy triumph: a grand alliance to rival to the European Union, stretching from Ukraine to the Pacific.But with conflict engulfing Ukraine, the pact that will go into effect on Jan. 1 is a more modest version of Putin’s lofty vision. On Tuesday, the leaders...
Ukraine votes to take step toward NATO, immediately angering Russia
MOSCOW –In a sign of Ukraine’s hardening attitude toward Russia, Ukrainian lawmakers on Tuesday voted to remove a legal barrier to joining the NATO defense alliance. The move swiftly provoked an angry response from Russia, even though NATO itself shows few signs of accepting Ukraine as a member any time soon. But this year’s bloody...
Crossword: What in the world, in 2014
From the rise of Islamic State to the unending chaos in Ukraine and the deadly spread of Ebola, a series of big news events defined 2014. Here at WorldViews, we put together questions from some of the events, big and small, that made headlines, to test how closely you’ve been following the news this year. If […] …read more Source: The...
For Putin, a year of successes and failures — on Ukraine, NATO and the West
MOSCOW — A year ago, most Ukrainians didn’t want to join NATO. U.S. tanks weren’t doing training exercises near the Russian border. And a dollar bought 33 rubles.But after the most tumultuous stretch of President Vladimir Putin’s 15 years in power, Russia is confronting a new reality. Ukraine — the part not held by rebels — has...
Putin’s epic annual news conference, condensed
At his year-end news conference in December 2013, Russian President Vladimir Putin had plenty of reason to preen. Russian opposition to Western intervention in the Syrian conflict had won sympathy in many parts of the world. Ukraine, at that point, appeared firmly in Moscow’s orbit, and his vision of a Eurasian Union rivaling Europe looked...
14 awkward photos of world leaders that explain 2014
It was a tough year for global events. From serious conflicts in Syria and Ukraine to the Ebola outbreak and the apparent destruction of not one but two Malaysia Air passenger planes, it sometimes felt like the world was bouncing from one horror to the other, never quite able to comprehend any of them. It […] …read more Source: The...
Ukraine president says cease-fire holding, calming conflict with Russia
MOSCOW – Efforts to advance peace talks between Ukraine’s government and pro-Moscow rebels appeared on stronger footing Friday as a fragile cease-fire held in a conflict that has raised Russia-Western tensions to Cold War levels.Read full article >> …read more Source: The Washington...
Why Putin says Crimea is Russia’s ‘Temple Mount’
Russian President Vladimir Putin has a lot of immediate concerns on his mind. He’s coping with an epic economic double whammy: the toll of Western sanctions imposed on Moscow over its power play in Ukraine this year and the precipitous fall of the Russian ruble, hit by a decline in global oil prices. But, as […] …read more Source: The...
BASEL, Switzerland – Secretary of State John Kerry said Thursday that Moscow had only itself to blame for the misery caused by sanctions imposed for its intervention in Ukraine. Speaking at a meeting of senior diplomats for countries in the Organization for Cooperation and Security in Europe, Kerry said Russia was isolating itself. Read full...
NATO to form rapid-response force amid continued tensions in Ukraine, Middle East
BRUSSELS — NATO officials said Tuesday that they will form an interim military force equipped to deploy quickly if the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East spill across borders. The spearhead force, formally known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, will use 3,000 to 4,000 troops from Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. It is...
