Eurasia

The foreign ministers of Turkey and Iran called Nov. 27 for a ceasefire in Syria before peace talks in Geneva scheduled for Jan. 22. “All our efforts are to end the conflict and for a ceasefire if possible, even before the Geneva 2 conference takes place,” Iranian

The Russian government asked Ukraine to consider delaying signing an Association Agreement with the EU to conduct further talks, said Ukrainan PM Mykola Azarov.

Ukrainian Prime Minister Mykola Azarov said Wednesday his country would continue to work toward European integration even as Kiev has suspended talks on a landmark deal with the European Union (EU).

Ukraine said on Tuesday it would not let itself become an East-West ‘battleground’ and its president declared he would attend an EU summit to explain why Kiev had turned down a landmark trade deal in favor of closer cooperation with Moscow.

Qusay al-Siheil, Iraqi First Deputy Speaker of the parliament, discussed ways to increase bilateral relations with  Turkish parliament Speaker. A statement by Siheil office announced on Tuesday “Siheil received today, the Turkish Parliament Speaker in Baghdad where they discussed

Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and leaders of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries pledged in Bucharest on Tuesday to expand investment and trade. The two sides agreed at a China-CEE leaders’ meeting to designate 2014 as the year for promotion of investment and trade between

US Secretary of State John Kerry affirmed here Monday that Mali has taken an “important step forward” by holding the first round of legislative elections. “The United States applauds the Government of Mali for the technical improvements to

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has refused to sign a security deal with the United States, the White House said, opening up the prospect of a complete withdrawal of U.S. troops from the strife-torn nation next year.

“The purpose of Geneva-2 is not to have an armchair discussion about Syria, it’s to have mutual agreement between regime representatives — without Assad — and the moderate opposition in order to form a transitional government,” Laurent Fabius told French radio.

France said Tuesday it would send hundreds of extra troops to the strife-torn Central African Republic after the UN warned the country was descending into “complete chaos”.