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by Carole LANDRY / with Maria Antonova in Moscow Agence France Presse UNITED NATION, United States (AFP) — Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vitaly Churkin, who for years fended off Western criticism and skillfully defended Moscow’s actions in Ukraine and Syria, died Monday in New York. He was 64. Churkin collapsed while at work at the Russian mission to the United Nations Monday morning and was rushed to a Manhattan hospital, apparently suffering from […]
(Reuters) — NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday (February 17) that the Western alliance is seeing progress on encouraging Moscow to be more open about its military exercises that he says are unpredictable, after holding talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Munich. But disagreements remained, he said, over the crisis in Ukraine, where the West accuses the Kremlin of arming separatist rebels in a conflict that has killed 10,000 people since […]
MUNICH, Germany (AFP) — Jittery European partners looking for reassurance from a member of US President Donald Trump’s new administration might have found it Friday in the form of Defense Secretary James Mattis. Allies are deeply troubled after Trump’s campaign rhetoric questioned long-established alliances, and they worry about a simmering scandal over possible ties between the White House and Moscow. Mattis, a former four-star Marine general whom Trump coaxed from retirement to run the […]
by Michael Mathes Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — President Donald Trump insisted Thursday that neither he nor his campaign team had contacts with Russian officials in the run-up to last year’s US election, contradicting an explosive report which he blasted as “fake news.” Trump also defended Michael Flynn, the national security advisor whose resignation he demanded and received this week, saying Flynn “wasn’t wrong” for holding pre-inauguration phone calls with the Russian […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US and Russian militaries agreed to “enhance communications” after a meeting between their top commanders in Azerbaijan on Thursday, the Pentagon said. Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Joe Dunford and his Russian counterpart Valery Gerasimov discussed military relations between the two countries as well as security in Europe, the Middle East and elsewhere during their meeting in the capital Baku. The two sides “have undertaken efforts […]
(Reuters) — The Kremlin said on Wednesday (February 15) an American media report, which said members of Donald Trump’s presidential campaign had contacts with Russian intelligence officials, was not based on any facts. The New York Times, citing four current and former U.S. officials, reported on Tuesday (February 14) that phone records and intercepted calls show that members of Trump’s campaign and other Trump associates had repeated contacts with senior Russian intelligence officials in the […]
The Kremlin on Tuesday insisted that the resignation of Donald Trump’s security adviser Michael Flynn over contacts with the Russian government was an internal affair for Washington. “This is the internal business of the Americans, it is the internal business of President (Donald) Trump’s administration. This is not our business,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told journalists. © Agence France-Presse
By Paul Handley and Andrew Beatty Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — Donald Trump’s national security advisor Michael Flynn resigned amid controversy over his contacts with the Russian government Monday, a stunning first departure from the new president’s inner circle less than a month after his inauguration. The White House said Trump had accepted Flynn’s resignation amid allegations the retired three-star general discussed United States sanctions strategy with Russia’s ambassador Sergey Kislyak before […]
MOSCOW, Russia (AFP) — Russia’s military on Monday released drone footage showing more destruction of treasured monuments by the Islamic State in Syria’s Palmyra since jihadists recaptured the UNESCO World Heritage Site late last year. The black-and-white video dated February 5 shows part of the Roman amphitheater reduced to rubble and the tetrapylon, a 16-columned structure that marked one end of the ancient city’s colonnade, wiped out. “The pictures clearly show that the terrorists blew […]
by Stuart WILLIAMS Agence France Presse ISTANBUL, Turkey (AFP) — Three Turkish soldiers were “accidentally” killed and 11 wounded on Thursday when a Russian air strike targeting jihadists in Syria hit a building where the troops were deployed, the Turkish army said. With Moscow and Ankara cooperating ever more closely on Syria, President Vladimir Putin quickly reached out to Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to express condolences and promise better future coordination. The Russian plane […]
(Reuters) — Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a new approach to resolve the territorial dispute with Russia on Tuesday (February 7) as Japan marked Northern Territories Day. The islands, known as the Southern Kuril islands in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan, have been at the root of strained relations between the two countries since the end of World War Two when soldiers from the former Soviet Union seized the islands […]
by Yulia SILINA Agence France-Presse AVDIIVKA, Ukraine (AFP) – The head of NATO warned on Wednesday that Ukraine faced its worst violence “in a long time” as global alarm rang out over a spike in bloodshed that has killed 19 people in the European Union’s backyard. Government forces and Russian-backed separatists exchanged mortar and rocket fire for a fourth day around the flashpoint eastern town of Avdiivka that sits just north of the rebels’ de facto […]
