Spain, backed by NATO withdrew their fueling request with Russia recently. NATO members are worried about Russia using their ships to airstrike in Aleppo, therefore urged Spain to take control of the situation and deny Russia’s request to refuel. NATO has good reason for believing this. First of all there has been reports that the Russian ships were Syria- bound,… Read more »
Russia has withdrawn a request for three warships to dock at the Spanish port of Ceuta for refuelling, the Spanish foreign ministry says. It says the stopovers have therefore been cancelled. Spain had been coming under pressure from Nato allies not to allow the refuelling of Russian warships bound for Syria.
Montenegro’s veteran Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic is stepping down, the country’s ruling party says. The move follows parliamentary elections which the Democratic Party of Socialists won but without an absolute majority 10 days ago. The party has nominated his deputy, Dusko Markovic, to take over. Mr Djukanovic has governed Montenegro either as prime minister or president for most of the… Read more »
EU leaders backed down Friday from an explicit threat of sanctions against Russia over the bombing of Aleppo but warned that they would consider “all available options” if atrocities in Syria continue. Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi demanded that any mention of possible punitive measures against Moscow over the Syrian carnage should be removed from a statement issued after a… Read more »
Heavy clashes erupted between regime and rebel forces in Syria’s divided city of Aleppo late Saturday after a unilateral ceasefire announced by government ally Russia expired. Moscow had extended the unilateral “humanitarian pause” into a third day until 1600 GMT Saturday, but announced no further renewal of the truce despite a UN request for longer to evacuate wounded civilians. The… Read more »
Finland’s Defence Ministry says it has scrambled jets twice in the past 24 hours to monitor suspected airspace violations by Russian fighters. A Russian Su-27 fighter was detected in the Gulf of Finland south of Porvoo late on Thursday, the ministry said. Another Russian Su-27 was detected on a suspicious flight there earlier. “Russian military aviation over the Baltic Sea… Read more »
On Monday, the United States withdrew from the Syrian Peace Process because Russia was not holding up its end of the deal. The United States stated that Syria still continued to bomb in Aleppo and did not uphold the ceasefire. As a result of Russia’s failure to meet its agreements, the United States decided to pull out of the agreement…. Read more »
Washington has “suspended” bilateral contacts with Moscow over the Syrian crisis, the US State Department said. Russian Foreign Ministry said it was “disappointed” by the decision and accused the US of seeking to shift blame for its own failure in Syria. US officials had threatened for a week to withdraw from the Syrian peace process, after the latest ceasefire… Read more »
Environment ministers from all 28 European Union states agreed on Friday to a fast-track, collective ratification of last year’s UN Paris climate deal, the EU said. “All member states greenlight early EU ratification of Paris Agreement. What some believed impossible is now real,” tweeted European Council President Donald Tusk, whose home country Poland had been the main state resisting such… Read more »
Russia has suspended an agreement with the US on the disposal of surplus weapons-grade plutonium, the latest sign of worsening bilateral relations. In a decree, President Vladimir Putin accused the US of creating “a threat to strategic stability, as a result of unfriendly actions” towards Russia. Moscow also set pre-conditions for the US for the deal to be resumed. Under… Read more »