Eurasia

Ukrainian officials on Monday reported more deaths among government troops and independence-seeking insurgents over the past 24 hours in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Andrei Lysenko, spokesman for the National Security and Defense Council, said that two pro-government fighters from volunteer battalions and an unspecified number of Ukrainian army soldiers …

n a significant shift, Turkey’s top diplomat announced on Monday that his country is helping Iraqi Kurdish fighters cross into Syria to “give support” to fellow Kurds defending the border town of Kobane from Islamic State militants.

Weapons, ammunition and medical supplies has been airdropped to Kurdish forces defending the Syrian city of Kobani against Islamic State militants, the U.S. military said. The airdrops on Sunday were the first of their kind and followed weeks of U.S. and coalition airstrikes in and near Kobani, near the Turkish …

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi met with his Sudanese counterpart Omar Al-Bashir at the Presidential Palace on Saturday to discuss bilateral relations, according to a Presidential statement on Sunday. Presidents Al-Sisi and Al-Bashir also discussed the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) as well as the situations in Libya, Syria, and …

The Egyptian Foreign Ministry welcomed on Sunday the formation of a new Iraqi unity government charged with fighting a rising Islamic State of Iraq and Al-Sham (ISIS) insurgency. The Iraqi parliament has appointed new Ministers of Defence and Interior, a Sunni and Shi’a respectively. It is seen as a move …

Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko confirmed that an agreement has been reached with Russia on a provisional price for gas deliveries during the coming winter months. Poroshenko yesterday said the deal was agreed at talks with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Milan on Friday, and he hoped it would end …

Vice President Joe Biden has spoken with Moldovan Prime Minister Iurie Leanca about bilateral relations and developments in the region. Biden “underscored his support for Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as its European integration path, and noted the importance of continuing to fight against corruption and improve the …

Turkey is launching a new communication strategy to support its bid for EU membership. The new strategy, intended to reverse the decline in public opinion support for Turkey’s membership in the EU, the country, will reinforce the value of Turkey’s participation, according to the country’s ministry of EU Affairs.

NATO said today it saw no sign of any significant Russian pullback from Ukraine’s border, despite President Vladimir Putin ordering thousands of troops to withdraw ahead of truce talks. “We would welcome the withdrawal of Russian troops on the border with Ukraine, as this would be a step in the …

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Thursday called on the Russian government to honor obligations it had made for implementing a recently-reached truce in Ukraine between separatists and Kiev. The Chancellor, in a statement at the Bundestag, said the Moscow government bears bulk of the responsibility of defusing the crisis in …