Tag Archives: NATO

Russia has no plans to invade Ukraine and suggestions to the contrary are malicious US propaganda, Moscow’s foreign intelligence chief said on Saturday. U.S., NATO, and Ukrainian officials have raised the alarm in recent weeks over what they say are unusual Russian troop movements near the border with Ukraine, suggesting …

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Friday said Ukraine had uncovered a plot to overthrow his government next week involving individuals from Russia, although he declined to say whether he thought the Kremlin was behind it. Speaking at an hour-long press conference, Zelenskiy said Ukrainian intelligence had obtained audio recordings of the …

Kiev’s forces are increasingly launching offensives in war-torn Donbass, attempting to use Western firepower to bring the two breakaway self-declared separatist republics to heel with military force, Moscow has blasted. Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the situation in the east of the …

Russia staged military drills in the Black Sea, south of Ukraine, on Wednesday and said it needed to sharpen the combat-readiness of its conventional and nuclear forces because of heightened NATO activity near its borders. Ukraine, which with its ally the United States has said it believes Russia may be …

Poland accused Belarus on Sunday of continuing to ferry migrants to its border, despite clearing camps close to the frontier earlier this week, as Polish premier Mateusz Morawiecki toured Baltic states to seek support in the crisis. Europe accuses Belarus of flying in thousands of people from the Middle East …

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that the West was taking Russia’s warnings not to cross its “red lines” too lightly and that Moscow needed serious security guarantees from the West. In a wide-ranging foreign policy speech, the Kremlin leader also described relations with the United States as “unsatisfactory” but …

Polish security forces turned water cannon on migrants across the Belarusian border, where thousands have gathered in a chaotic attempt to reach the European Union, video footage shared by authorities showed on Tuesday. The crisis has led the EU to prepare further sanctions against Belarus, which it accuses of attempting …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Western countries, rather than Belarus, were ultimately responsible for a migrant crisis on the Belarus-Poland border, pointing to wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Russia is a key ally of Belarus, which the European Union has accused of mounting a “hybrid attack” by …

World powers will push for sanctions against anyone who disrupts Libya’s electoral process and political transition, according to draft conclusions of a conference they are holding later on Friday in Paris. The meeting, which will include the leaders of France, Libya, Germany and Egypt, as well as the US vice …

Russia said on Thursday it had scrambled a fighter jet to intercept a British spy plane operating near Crimea, the Black Sea peninsula which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. Russia’s defense ministry said the British foray was part of a wider uptick in military activity by the United States …

The European Union’s foreign policy chief warned the bloc on Wednesday that it must agree an ambitious doctrine as the basis for joint military action abroad, including with a deployable crisis force. Josep Borrell told reporters his first draft of the “Strategic Compass” – the closest thing the EU could …

Turkish authorities detained 17 people on Wednesday for putting a hood over the head of a visiting US Navy civilian employee in a protest against the United States policy in the Middle East, the Istanbul governor’s office said. The group that carried out the act, the Turkey Youth Union (TGB), …

The European Union’s top diplomat said on Thursday that Moscow was using natural gas to bully Moldova, as the prime minister of the ex-Soviet republic said the country could not afford the prices Russia was now offering. Moldova’s gas contract with Russia’s Gazprom expired at the end of September. Moldova’s …

The Russian defense ministry on Monday handed a protest note to a German military attache due to the German defense minister’s comments over the need to deter Russia’s nuclear capabilities, RIA state news agency reported. The Russian defense ministry said it summoned the German diplomat and “drew attention to the …

Russia’s defense minister accused NATO on Saturday of gradually gathering forces near Russia’s borders and being unwilling to discuss European security with Moscow on equal terms, Interfax news agency reported. Shoigu’s comments were the latest sign of mounting tension between Russia and NATO after defense ministers from the Western alliance …

The president of the unrecognized state of Kosovo accused Russia of exerting “malign influence in order to wreck Pristina’s, as well as the US’, NATO’s, and European Union’s achievements” Kosovo’s President Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu has declared two Russian diplomats personae non grata. According to Osmani, she issued a request to the …

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday that the alliance would still need to talk to Russia after Moscow suspended its diplomatic mission to the alliance over an espionage dispute. That means relying on a hotline between Russia’s chief of general staff, Valery Gerasimov, and Tod Wolters, NATO’s Supreme Allied …

Russia said on Monday it would halt the activities of its diplomatic mission to NATO after the Western military alliance expelled eight Russians saying they were spies. Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said staff at NATO’s military mission in Moscow would be stripped of their accreditation from Nov. 1, and …

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Sunday said Turkey was in talks with the United States to buy F-16 fighters after it was kicked off the F-35 program for purchasing a Russian missile defense system. Washington excluded Ankara from NATO’s F-35 stealth fighter jet program in 2019 after Turkey purchased Russian …

France’s ambassador to Australia says Australian officials lied to his face and raised the risk of confrontation in Asia by crafting a secret submarine deal with the United States and Britain that undermined trust in democratic alliances. France is determined to protect its interests in the Indo-Pacific region, and to …