Eurasia

Syrian government and opposition delegates are starting a fresh round of U.N.-brokered peace talks. The first face-to-face meetings mediated by U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar

Serbian Defense Minister Nebojsa Rodić conferred in Belgrade with NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Richard Shirreff. According to a statement from the Serbian MoD, they spoke about “regional cooperation and Serbia’s role in the creation of a secure environment in the Balkans.”

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Kristian Vigenin has expressed hopes that the issue of Bulgaria’s accession to Schengen will be resolved by end-2014. Vigenin, as cited by the BGNES news agency, told journalists Friday that no decision on Bulgaria’s Schengen

Greece supports the resumption of talks for a “viable and fair” solution to the Cyprus issue, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said Friday. A joint declaration that will pave the way for restarting the stalled talks between Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders is likely

Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili will be on his first official visit to Azerbaijan on February 12-13, the Georgian Embassy in Azerbaijan said. 

A special court trying Pervez Musharraf for treason on Friday summoned the beleaguered former dictator to appear on February 18 and warned a non-bailable arrest warrant would be issued if he failed to do so.

Syria’s Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad says the government has decided to take part in a second round of peace talks in Geneva, set to begin next week.

Focus of the United Nations Security Council this month will be issues related to Syria, said Ambassador Raimonda Murmokaite of Lithuania and Security Council President for the month of February. She said that the 15 members will hold informal consultations on the chemical weapons situation in Syria, and will hear …

At least 246 people, including 73 children, have been killed in five days of Syrian army barrel bombing of rebel-held held areas of second city Aleppo, an NGO said Thursday.

The U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland has arrived in the Ukrainian capital to try to help find a resolution to the protests and political crisis that have gripped the country for more than two months.