Russia continues to have “postured, ready and capable battalion tactical groups” along the border with Ukraine, particularly in the southeast between Ukraine and western Russia, Rear Admiral John Kirby, Pentagon spokesman, said on Thursday. “These units have remained ready,” Kirby said during a briefing. “They have remained close, in some …

US Vice-President Joe Biden landed in Ukraine today, US diplomats in Kiev said, ahead of talks with the country’s president and prime minister over possible increased assistance amid conflict in the east. Biden will meet President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk tomorrow, the one-year anniversary of the Maidan …

President of the Republic of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan left Thursday Algiers after a two-day official visit to Algeria, at the invitation of President of the Republic, Abdelaziz Bouteflika.

NATO said Thursday there have been around 400 intercepts of Russian military flights near its member countries this year, amid heightened tension between Moscow and the West over the Ukraine crisis. “If you look at the number of intercepts around NATO, we can talk about 400 intercepts, 50 percent more …

Two French jets, backed by US-led coalition planes, have targeted ISIL trenches near Iraq’s northern city of Kirkuk as operations continue against the terrorist group’s frontlines. Two Dassault-built (AVMD.PA) Rafale fighters hit trenches, used by ISIL militants to capture the northern Iraqi oil city, at around 0330 GMT, French Defense Ministry …

Turkey and Iraq have reinforced their pledge to mend ties during the Turkish prime minister’s visit to the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, agreeing on closer cooperation against Islamist jihadists’ threat and revive economic ties with a greater momentum than before. Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu’s visit to the country, a …

Pakistan and Russia on Thursday signed a military cooperation agreement to deepen their defence ties and vowed to translate their relationship in “tangible” terms during the first visit of a Russian Defence Minister in 45 years. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu’s visit to Pakistan comes at a very critical juncture …

Ignoring India’s opposition, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday said Pakistan would hold a dialogue with Kashmiri separatists to take them into confidence before engaging in peace talks with India. “It is our fundamental belief that the Kashmir issue should be resolved through dialogue. My government started dialogue with India …

Germany’s foreign minister jetted to Kiev and Moscow yesterday in a bid to revive a failing peace plan in east Ukraine, as deadly fighting pushed EU-Russia relations to breaking point. Berlin’s top diplomat Frank-Walter Steinmeier was set to hold key talks with Ukraine’s pro-Western leaders before heading to Moscow for …

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu has warned of a new refugee influx Turkey may face if Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime or Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) militants advance on Aleppo. Addressing a joint press meeting with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja on Tuesday, Çavuşoğlu said the …