Iran has requested a meeting of a commission overseeing the implementation of its 2015 nuclear deal with world powers, Iranian state media reported on Saturday, in response to what Tehran calls a U.S. violation of the agreement.

• December 17, 2016

A senior Syrian rebel blamed Iran and its Shi'ite militias on Saturday of holding up the evacuation of civilians trapped in the remaining rebel bastion in Aleppo and urged Russia to live up to its commitment to implement the deal.

• December 17, 2016

China will return an underwater U.S. drone seized by a naval vessel this week in the South China Sea, both countries said on Saturday, but Beijing complained that Washington had been "hyping up" the incident.

• December 17, 2016

Thousands of people were evacuated on Thursday from the last rebel bastion in Aleppo, the first to leave under a ceasefire deal that would end years of fighting for the city and mark a major victory for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

• December 15, 2016

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin wrapped up two days of talks on Thursday, with numerous economic deals but no big breakthrough on a territorial row that has over-shadowed ties since World War Two.

• December 15, 2016

A priceless collection of gold artifacts from Crimea that was on loan to a Dutch museum when Russia seized the peninsula must be returned to Ukraine and not Crimea, a Dutch court ruled on Wednesday in a judgement likely to anger Moscow.

• December 14, 2016

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin does not think relations between Russia and the United States will improve under Donald Trump's administration, news agency Interfax Ukraine reported him as saying late on Tuesday.

• December 14, 2016

Turkey is negotiating with Russia to open a corridor to evacuate Syrian rebel fighters and civilians from the remaining opposition-held districts of Aleppo, but no agreement has yet been reached, a senior Turkish official said.

• December 13, 2016