Section: Voice of America (USA)
Syria and Ukraine: Two Fronts in Russia’s War for Influence
Russia’s airstrikes in Syria are in part designed to extract concessions from the West over Ukraine by making Moscow a key player in any attempts by world powers to hammer out a post-conflict settlement in Damascus, some Western officials believe. While the Syrian capital lies 3,000 km (1,800 miles) south of Kyiv, for Russian President...
Ukraine to Pull Out Small-caliber Weapons From War-torn East
Ukrainian government forces will pull out small-caliber weapons from the war-torn east in two days’ time if the current cease-fire holds, the defense minister said on Thursday. A military conflict between government forces and Russia-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine has been raging since April 2014, leaving more than 8,000 people dead...
Analysts: Russian Strikes Aimed More at Bolstering Assad
Russia dramatically escalated its role in the Syrian conflict with airstrikes Wednesday. President Vladimir Putin described the campaign as the right way to fight international terrorists, by attacking them in territories they occupy. But some Russian analysts suggest the Russian military maneuvers were as much about bolstering Syrian President...
Ukraine, Rebels Agree to Broaden Weapons Withdrawal
Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists have agreed to extend a pull-back of weapons in east Ukraine to include tanks and smaller weapons systems, the OSCE’s representative at peace talks, Martin Sajdik, said on Tuesday. The deal was agreed during further talks in Minsk, Belarus, on the ceasefire, whose implementation has faced regular setbacks...
View from Moscow: Syria Move Aimed at Ending International Isolation
Russia’s official media have been parsing Monday’s meeting between the American and Russian presidents in New York in detail, discussing everything from who initiated it (Moscow claims it was Washington, despite the fact that the White House denied this), to who clinked – or didn’t clink -glasses with whom at U.N. Secretary...
UN Urges Return of Aid Agencies to Ukraine’s Rebel-held Area
A senior United Nations official warns of dire humanitarian consequences if the self-styled authorities in Ukraine’s separatist-controlled area of Luhansk do not permit U.N. and international aid agencies to return to the region. Ivan Simonovic, the U.N. assistant secretary-general for human rights, has briefed the U.N. Human Rights Council...
At UN, Obama, Putin Remain Sharply Divided on Syria, Ukraine
President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday used the world stage to offer up starkly contrasting views on the two long simmering areas of conflict – Syria and Ukraine. The two issues dominated the leaders’ talks on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly – the first such formal meeting in more than two...
Analysts: Russia Moves in Syria, Iraq, Upending US Role
With just two moves, Russia may have upended the U.S. role in the Middle East. Working with its allies in Tehran and Damascus, Moscow first moved 28 attack and transport aircraft and enough housing for 2,000 troops to Latakia, Syria. Then Moscow set up a security and intelligence-sharing cell in Baghdad, Iraq, also in coordination with Iran and...
EU’s Russia Envoy: Relations Past Worst Phase
Relations between Russia and the European Union have entered a “more hopeful phase” with a firmer ceasefire in eastern Ukraine suggesting the worst is over, Vygaudas Usackas, the European Union’s envoy to Russia, said on Monday. “I’m more hopeful than I was before, [than] last month,” Usackas, the head of the...
Putin: Assad, Syrian Military ‘Valiantly Fighting Terrorism’
Russian President Vladimir Putin told the United Nations General Assembly Monday that the armed forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad are “valiantly fighting terrorism face to face” and that refusing to cooperate with them is “a huge mistake.” He also called for the creation of a “broad international...
