Eurasia

EU ministers of defence will hold an informal meeting in Milan, Italy, on Tuesday and Wednesday to discuss a number of issues including the crises in Ukraine, Iraq and Syria, EU officials said here Monday.

U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is due to visit Turkey on Monday for an official visit where he will meet with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and a number of senior officials. The two sides will discuss threats posed by the Islamic State (IS) and best possible ways to combat …

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Monday visited a frontline city in the restive southeast as a ceasefire is generally taking hold. Reaffirming his solidarity with Mariupol, a strategic port town by the Azov Sea that has been under control of government forces, Poroshenko tweeted that “we will not give up …

Ousted Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi may face death sentence on charges of leaking national security documents to Qatar, the official MENA news agency reported on Sunday, citing a judiciary source. The former president along with 10 others will face trial over charges of handing national security files to the Qatari …

U.S. President Barack Obama on Monday hinted that his summit meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the end of the month may to large extent focus on counterterrorism and security cooperation policies, including within its ambit the rise of Islamic State in Syria and Iraq and prospects for …

Russia will retaliate against a new round of Western sanctions over Ukraine and may block flights through its airspace, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview published today.

Ukraine accused pro-Russian rebels of waging fresh attacks in the restive east today, further imperilling a fragile truce as EU leaders prepared to approve punishing new sanctions on Moscow. Russia warned it would retaliate against the new measures, which the EU has nevertheless said could be suspended if Moscow observes …

Blaming Russian behaviour and actions in Ukraine, France on Wednesday decided to stop the delivery of the first of two Mistral heavy transport ships to Russia, President Francois Hollande’s office announced Wednesday. The move is certain to spark bitter controversy with Moscow.

As the Nato summit is set to kick off in Wales tomorrow, German Chancellor Angela Merkel stressed that the Nato-Russian military agreements will remain unchanged, curbing any rising fears between Russia and Nato due to the Ukrainian crisis. In a press statement on Wednesday, Merkel said “the Nato-Russian Military agreements …

Fierce clashes in Libya’s eastern city of Benghazi between Islamist militiamen and rival forces loyal to a renegade general have killed 31 fighters on both sides, a security official said on Tuesday. The fighting erupted late on Monday, with forces and fighter jets belonging to General Khalifa Hifter pounding positions …