Putin suggests US ceasefire idea for Ukraine needs serious reworking
Updated: 12:25 (AEDT) Moscow, Russia Reuters President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that Russia supported a US proposal for a ceasefire in Ukraine in principle, but sought a number of clarifications and conditions that appeared to rule out a quick end to the fighting. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022, has left hundreds of […]
Russia to get back jailed cybercrime boss from US after freeing teacher Marc Fogel; Belarus releases three detainees, including American
Washington DC, US/Moscow, Russia Reuters The United States is freeing a Russian cybercrime boss from prison in return for Moscow’s release of American schoolteacher Marc Fogel, a US official said on Wednesday. The Kremlin said the deal – the first it has struck with the new administration of President Donald Trump – could help build […]
Putin ally Lukashenko declared winner of Belarus vote that West calls a charade
Reuters Belarusian leader and Russian ally Alexander Lukashenko extended his 31-year rule on Monday after electoral officials declared him the winner of a presidential election Western governments rejected as a sham. Lukashenko, who faced no serious challenge from the four other candidates on the ballot, took 86.8 per cent of the vote, according to initial […]
Lukashenko heads for massive win in Belarus election scorned by the West
Reuters Belarusian leader Alexander Lukashenko was on track to extend his 31-year rule with a massive win in a presidential election on Sunday that Western governments rejected as a sham. An exit poll broadcast on state TV projected that Lukashenko would take nearly 88 per cent of the vote. The close ally of Russian President […]
Catholic priest in Belarus sentenced to 11 years as crackdown on dissent continues
Tallinn, Estonia AP A Catholic priest in Belarus on Monday was convicted on charges of high treason for criticising the government and handed an 11-year sentence, in the first case of politically-driven charges against Catholic clergy since Belarus became independent in the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union. The conviction and sentencing of Rev Henrykh […]
EU leaders set course for tougher policy to send back irregular migrants
Brussels, Belgium Reuters European Union leaders agreed on Thursday to use all their leverage, including trade, development aid and visa policy, to speed up returns of migrants illegally entering the bloc and asked the European Commission to urgently draft a law. Immigration is a highly sensitive topic in most of the bloc’s 27 member states, […]
EU offers to tighten migration stance under pressure from governments
Brussels, Belgium Reuters The European Commission will propose during its new term measures to tighten the EU’s stance on migration, responding to pressure from governments across the bloc for which irregular arrivals have become a major political and security problem. Ursula von der Leyen, who runs the European Union’s executive arm, wrote to EU leaders […]
Jailed Belarus Nobel winner should have been freed in prisoner swap, say supporters
Vilnius, Lithuania Reuters Supporters of jailed Belarusian Nobel Peace laureate Ales Bialiatski say the human rights activist should have been included in the biggest East-West prisoner swap since the Cold War on Thursday. Allies of Bialiatski and other jailed Belarusians are disappointed they were not included in the swap, which saw eight Russians, including a […]
Americans freed alongside Russian assassin in biggest post-Cold War prisoner swap
Updated: 2:25pm (AEST) Moscow, Russia/Ankara, Turkey Reuters Russia freed US journalist Evan Gershkovich and ex-US Marine Paul Whelan on Thursday as part of the biggest prisoner exchange of its kind since the end of the Cold War. The White House said the US had negotiated the trade with Russia, Germany and three other countries. The […]
Germany says releasing Russian assassin was “no easy decision”
Berlin, Germany Reuters The German Government said it had not taken lightly the decision to release Vadim Krasikov, a Russian convicted of the murder of a former Chechen militant in Berlin in 2019, as part of a major prisoner swap between Moscow and the West on Thursday. Krasikov was among the Russians released by the […]