Azeri President says peace with Armenia is closer than ever
Reuters Azeri President Ilham Aliyev said on Sunday his country is “closer than ever” to a peace with Armenia, half a year after Azerbaijan recaptured its Karabakh region from its ethnic Armenian majority, prompting a mass exodus of ethnic Armenians. “Today, we are in an active phase of peace talks with Armenia,” Aliyev said in […]
Sweden clears final hurdle to join NATO as Hungary approves accession
Budapest, Hungary/Stockholm, Sweden Reuters Hungary’s parliament approved Sweden’s NATO accession on Monday, clearing the last hurdle before the historic step by the Nordic country whose neutrality lasted through two world wars and the simmering conflict of the Cold War. Hungary’s vote ended months of delays to complete Sweden’s security policy shift and followed a visit […]
Western officials criticise Trump’s NATO comments
Paris, France Reuters Top western officials criticised former president Donald Trump on Sunday after he suggested the US might not protect NATO allies who aren’t spending enough on defence from a potential Russian invasion. “Any suggestion that allies will not defend each other undermines all of our security, including that of the US, and puts […]
NATO’s Stoltenberg concerned by secessionist rhetoric in Bosnia
Sarajevo, Bosnia and HerzegovinaReuters NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday the alliance was concerned by secessionist rhetoric in Bosnia, as well as by Russian influence in the country, after months of Serb leaders increasingly saying they want to split away. Bosnia emerged from a 1992-1995 war with a federal structure uniting a Serb-dominated […]
Russia says it repels border incursion, strikes on Kyiv kill three
Kyiv, Ukraine/Moscow, Russia Reuters Russia said on Thursday it had repelled more cross-border attacks from Ukraine while its aerial assaults on Kyiv killed another three people including a nine-year-old girl and her mother locked out of an air raid shelter. Both sides are trying to sap morale and weaken military capacity ahead of a long-promised […]
NATO ready to deploy even more troops to quell unrest in Kosovo – Stoltenberg
Oslo, NorwayReuters NATO is prepared to deploy more troops to Kosovo to quell violence in the ethnically polarised north, the alliance’s chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday, adding that the first 700 reinforcement troops are on the way there. “NATO will remain vigilant. We will be there to ensure a safe and secure environment, and […]
Finland joins NATO in historic shift, Russia threatens ‘counter-measures’
Helsinki, Finland/Brussels, Belgium Reuters Finland formally joined NATO on Tuesday, its flag unfurling outside the military bloc’s Brussels headquarters, in a historic policy shift brought on by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, drawing a threat from Moscow of “counter-measures”. Finland’s accession, ending seven decades of military non-alignment, roughly doubles the length of the border that the […]
Russia attacks Ukraine along frontline from north to south
Kyiv, Ukraine Reuters Russia shelled Ukrainian towns across a long stretch of the frontline from north to south, Ukrainian officials said on Friday, a day after Moscow fired dozens of missiles in its latest barrage against critical infrastructure. Air attack sirens blared overnight into Friday in the capital Kyiv, and Reuters heard several explosions and […]
Freezing Ukraine gradually restores power after Russian strikes; Pope calls for Ukraine to be “far sighted” to secure peace
Kyiv, UkraineReuters Ukrainian authorities on Friday gradually restored power to millions of people left in the dark after the most devastating Russian air strikes so far, aided by the reconnection of the country’s four nuclear plants. National power grid operator Ukrenergo said that as of 7pm local time, 30 per cent of electricity supplies were […]
Fears of war spillover ease after NATO says missile on Poland was Ukrainian stray
Warsaw/Przewodow, Poland/Brussels, BelgiumReuters A missile that crashed inside Poland was probably a stray fired by Ukraine’s air defences and not a Russian strike, Poland and military alliance NATO said on Wednesday, easing international fears that the war could spill across the border. Nevertheless, NATO’s chief said that Moscow, not Kyiv, was still to blame for […]