Section: Voice of America (USA)
Pentagon Chief: Russia Poses ‘Existential Threat’ to US
In language rarely heard since the end of the Cold War, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said that Russia again poses an “existential threat” to the United States and in many ways behaves like an antagonist. “Russia poses an existential threat to the United States by virtue simply of the size of the nuclear arsenal that it’s had,” Carter said...
Poland’s New Leader Seeks Greater Regional Unity, NATO Bases
It’s been a dream of some Polish leaders for nearly a century: an alliance of Eastern European countries running from the Baltic Sea down to the Black Sea that would keep Russia at bay. Poland’s conservative new president, Andrzej Duda, who took office two weeks ago, has already signaled that building such an alliance under...
Russia Looks to Make Food Smuggling as Serious as Arms Trade
Russian customs officials want to make smuggling banned Western foods a criminal offense as serious as dealing in radioactive materials or explosives. In retaliation to Western sanctions over its role in the Ukraine crisis, Russia last year banned certain food imports from the European Union, the U.S. and a few other countries. President Vladimir...
Pioneer of Ostpolitik during Cold War Dies at 93
Egon Bahr, an eminent German Social Democrat who with late Chancellor Willy Brandt forged a policy of rapprochement with Communist Eastern Europe known as “Ostpolitik” during the Cold War, has died at the age of 93, the party said on Thursday. A towering figure on Germany’s political left, Bahr was closely involved as...
Russian Prosecutors Seek 23-year Sentence for Crimean Filmmaker
Public prosecutors in Russia’s Rostov region on Wednesday asked judges for a 23-year sentence against a Ukrainian film director. Oleg Sentsov faces charges of leading a terrorist group and acts of terrorism. Critics have dismissed Sentsov’s prosecution as revenge — a Crimean native, he was a vocal opponent of Russia’s 2014...
Russian FM: Putin Would Consider Meeting with Obama, if Invited
Russian President Vladimir Putin is open to a meeting with President Barack Obama when the Russian leader visits the United States to participate in the United Nations General Assembly next month, Russia’s foreign minister said Wednesday. Speaking to reporters in Sevastopol, Crimea, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that Putin will...
Russia Slaps French Chain Auchan with Food Inspections
Russian officials are conducting “systematic” inspections at the French supermarket chain Auchan following concerns about poor quality meat, the country’s chief public health official said Wednesday. The inspections have taken place in all of Auchan’s Moscow stores since mid-June, said Anna Popova, head of the state...
Nearing Milestone, Queen Elizabeth Shows no Sign of Stepping Aside
After 63 years on the throne, Queen Elizabeth next month becomes Britain’s longest-ruling monarch but there is little prospect of her stepping aside, as other aging European crowned heads have done, in favor of her son, Charles. Those close to Elizabeth — who on Sept. 9 takes the long-service record from her great-great-grandmother Queen...
Russia Sentences Estonian to 15 Years for Spying
Russia sentenced an Estonian security officer to 15 years in prison for spying. The lawyer for Eston Kohver told reporters a regional court in the western Russian city of Pskov handed down the ruling Wednesday, finding Kohver guilty of spying, arms smuggling and violating border regulations. Russia said Kohver illegally crossed the border into...
Ukraine Fighting Eases as Putin Blames Kyiv for Hostilities
Fighting in eastern Ukraine between government troops and Russia-backed rebels eased Tuesday as Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed Kyiv for a week of intense clashes that threatened to unravel a shaky cease-fire. Putin, on a visit to Russia-annexed Crimea, claimed Ukrainian troops and hardware are massing in the southeast. Russian media...
