Europe

The European Commission will ban Ukrainian grain and oilseeds exports to Romania until June 5, Romanian Agriculture Minister Petre Daea said on Wednesday. Romania has stopped short of enforcing a ban, whereas Poland, Hungary, Bulgaria and Slovakia took unilateral steps to protect local markets from a flow of Ukrainian farm …

The Czech government on Wednesday approved a defense cooperation deal with the United States in a bid to boost its security as Russia’s war with Ukraine continues. The agreement facilitates a potential deployment of US troops to the Czech Republic, a NATO member since 1999, said Defense Minister Jana Cernochova. …

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke Wednesday with Chinese leader Xi Jinping, Moscow’s most important diplomatic partner, in the first phone call between the two leaders since the start of Russia’s invasion. “I had a long and meaningful phone call with Chinese President Xi Jinping. I believe that this call, as …

The EU’s industry and economy were built thanks to decades of cheap gas supply from Russia. Now the bloc has shut that supply off due to the war in Ukraine. A mild winter ensured reasonable energy storage was maintained in the EU and prices, while very high, did not bring …

Sweden on Tuesday expelled five Russian diplomats for carrying out activities that are “inconsistent with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.” In a statement, the Swedish Foreign Ministry said that Russia’s Ambassador to Stockholm Viktor Tatarintsev was summoned to inform him about the expulsion of the diplomats at the Russian …

Russia says it might abandon the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles, as a result of the destabilizing military programs of the United States in the region. The Russian foreign ministry’s head of nuclear non-proliferation, Vladimir Yermakov, told the TASS news agency on Tuesday that the destabilizing …

Russia has warned that risks of direct nuclear confrontation with the United States are constantly increasing as a result of Washington’s hostile attitude towards Moscow since the beginning of the Ukraine war. Director of Russian Foreign Ministry’s Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Department Vladimir Yermakov raised the alarm in an interview …

French protesters have once again taken to the streets banging pots and pans to vent their outrage at the government’s highly unpopular pension law that will delay the age at which people can retire in the European country. People protested to the sound of pots and pans in front of …

Russia says it might abandon the moratorium on the deployment of intermediate and shorter-range missiles, as a result of the destabilizing military programs of the United States in the region. The Russian Foreign Ministry’s head of nuclear non-proliferation, Vladimir Yermakov, told the TASS news agency on Tuesday that the destabilizing military programs …

Iran has imposed sanctions on more than 20 individuals and entities from the European Union and the United Kingdom after the bloc and London imposed a fresh round of sanctions targeting Iranian officials and organizations. The Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a Monday statement that the EU and UK individuals …

Air pollution still causes more than 1,200 premature deaths a year in under 18’s across Europe and increases the risk of chronic disease later in life, the EU environmental agency said Monday. Despite recent improvements, “the level of key air pollutants in many European countries remains stubbornly above World Health …

Global military spending grew for the eighth consecutive year in 2022 to a record $2.24 trillion, with a sharp increase in Europe, mainly due to Russian and Ukrainian spending, a Swedish think tank said on Monday. Spending globally increased by 3.7% in real terms, but military spending in Europe increased …

The UN secretary-general on Monday denounced the “devastation” caused by Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine during a Security Council meeting chaired by Russia’s foreign minister. Antonio Guterres said in front of Sergei Lavrov that the Russian invasion was a violation of international law and is “causing massive suffering” to the Ukrainian …

The White House is “annoyed” by French President Emmanuel Macron’s unilateral attempt to initiate diplomatic negotiations on the Russia-Ukraine conflict with mediation by China, sources have told Bloomberg. According to people familiar with the US government’s thinking on the issue, the recent move by the French leader “hasn’t gone down …

The European Union and the UK have imposed new sanctions on a number of Iranian individuals and entities over alleged human rights violations, despite the fact that the failure of such a policy has been proven many times over the past years. In another hostile move, the European Union’s Council …

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has reacted strongly to South Korea’s suggestion that it may start arming Ukraine’s government, slamming the idea as “an openly hostile anti-Russian move.” “Russia is conducting defensive military operations against the collective West, which has chosen the puppet regime in Kyiv as an instrument …

​The former director general of the Middle East at the Iranian foreign ministry has said that Turkey and Iraq are suitable countries to mediate between Russia and Ukraine. Moscow is facing many military problems and I believe that nothing will happen in the case of Ukraine soon, Qasem Mohebali told …

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has called on like-minded countries to join forces against the “blackmail” of Western sanctions during a visit to Venezuela as part of his tour of Latin America. “It is necessary to join forces to counter the attempts of blackmail and illegal unilateral pressure of the …

Ukraine’s defense minister confirmed on Wednesday that Kyiv had received Patriot air defense systems, and said this made Ukrainian skies more secure. “Our air defenders have mastered them as fast as they could. And our partners have kept their word,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov wrote on Twitter. He did not …

China’s defense minister Li Shangfu said Tuesday his trip to Moscow was aimed at demonstrating Beijing’s “determination” to strengthen strategic ties with Russia. The visit comes after President Vladimir Putin received Chinese leader Xi Jinping last month in Moscow for a summit showing the nations’ united front against the West. …