Eurasia

Ukraine, Russia, France and Germany leaders could meet in Astana on Jan.15

Germany cast doubt on Monday on whether a four-way summit on the Ukraine crisis in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana on Jan.15 would take place and France’s president said the meeting would depend on the likelihood of “new progress” being made. More than 4,700 people have been killed in fighting between Kiev’s …

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Hollande supports Syrian opposition, excludes any alliance with Al-Assad

French President Francois Hollande on Monday urged more support for the “moderate” Syrian opposition groups seeking to oust the regime of President Bashar Al-Assad and he excluded any alliance with the Syrian leader to fight against ISIL and other extremists in that country. Speaking on “France Inter” radio, Hollande again …

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Arab League holds urgent meeting on Libyan security situation

The Arab League will hold Monday an urgent meeting on the security situation in Libya, said the Arab League’s Deputy Secretary General Ahmed Ben Helli. The meeting, which will bring together the permanent representatives, will be devoted to the examination of the serious developments in the situation in Libya and …

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UN delays Libya peace talks

The United Nations postponed peace talks between Libya’s warring factions which had been scheduled for Monday without announcing a new date. The talks had originally been slated for 9 December but have been repeatedly delayed as fighting has intensified between the beleaguered internationally recognised government and Islamist-backed militias.

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Hollande: sanctions on Russia could be lifted depending on Ukraine situation evolution

 French President Francois Hollande said today that biting Western sanctions against Russia should be lifted if progress were made in resolving the Ukraine crisis. “I think the sanctions must stop now. They must be lifted if there is progress. If there is no progress the sanctions will remain,” he said during a wide-ranging …

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French President rules out intervention in Libya

French President Francois Hollande said today that France would not intervene unilaterally in Libya and urged the international community to take action to stem the deepening crisis in the country. “We are acting to contain terrorism in the south, but France will not intervene in Libya because it’s for the international community to …

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Egypt forms ‘crisis cell’ to release nationals kidnapped in Libya

A “crisis cell” to “secure the lives of Egyptians kidnapped in Libya” and work on their release was formed Monday, upon the orders of President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi. Over the past week, 20 Egyptians, all of them Christian, were kidnapped in two separate incidents. The crisis cell convened and discussed …

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Algeria, Egypt relations on positive trend, says Egyptian ambassador to Algiers

The Algerian-Egyptian relations witness “substantial” and “very positive progress,” said Wednesday in Algiers, Egypt’s Ambassador Omar Ali Mohammad Ibrahim Abu Eich. In a statement to the press following the meeting he had with the President of the Republic, to whom he presented his credentials as an Ambassador, Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary …

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