Russia's ambassador to Afghanistan denied on Monday that Moscow was giving its backing to the Taliban in its fight against Islamic State militants who have established a growing presence in the east of the country.

• April 25, 2016

U.S. President Barack Obama said during a visit to Germany on Sunday that he was "deeply concerned" about a surge in violence in Syria, where government forces have stepped up bombing of rebel-held areas around the strategic city of Aleppo.

• April 24, 2016

China has agreed with Brunei, Cambodia and Laos that the South China Sea territorial dispute should not affect relations between China and the Association of South East Asian National (ASEAN), China's Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.

• April 24, 2016

Yemen's warring factions held their first direct talks in a U.N.-backed peace process on Friday and will meet again despite failing to agree on an agenda, participants said.

• April 22, 2016

The United States said on Thursday it was concerned about reports that Russia is moving more military equipment into Syria to bolster President Bashar al-Assad, with a truce in tatters and peace talks in meltdown.

• April 21, 2016

No talks on lifting Western sanctions against Russia should take place until Moscow completely withdraws its military presence from Ukraine, President Petro Poroshenko said on Thursday.

• April 21, 2016

Russia on Wednesday accused the Saudi-backed Syrian opposition of employing blackmail by suspending its participation in peace talks in Geneva.

• April 20, 2016

Saudi Arabia and Russia both have the capacity to steeply increase oil production, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said on Wednesday, and he said he was not confident exporters would be able to agree on freezing their output by June.

• April 20, 2016