A senior Russian diplomat accused the United States on Monday of trying to bring down President Vladimir Putin with the sanctions it has imposed on Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.

• December 8, 2014

Italy reacted angrily on Sunday to demands from Chancellor Angela Merkel that it enact more reforms to bring its 2015 budget in line with EU fiscal rules, saying the German leader's time would be better spent resolving economic problems at home.

• December 7, 2014

The European Union will press Turkey to cooperate more closely in the fight against Islamic State and urge it not to undermine EU sanctions on Russia on a visit this week intended to give new impetus to often fraught EU-Turkish relations.

• December 7, 2014

The European Union urged Russia on Friday not to drag the Western Balkans into its deepening rift with the West over Ukraine, reflecting concern that the region risks becoming another point of East-West tension.

• December 5, 2014

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov criticized the West on Friday for what he said were constant attempts to blame Russia for the crisis in east Ukraine and said Moscow was not isolated over the conflict.

• December 5, 2014

The flags of Russia, Ukraine and pro-Russian separatists flutter over a water tower building on one of the few stretches of the frontline in eastern Ukraine where peace has broken out.

• December 5, 2014

European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker has insisted the $40 billion South Stream natural gas pipeline can still go ahead and accused Russia of holding EU-member Bulgaria to ransom when it said it had abandoned the project.

• December 4, 2014

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said in an interview published on Thursday he expected his country's conflict to be long and difficult but vowed to defeat the insurgents battling to oust him and said he would not be driven from power.

• December 4, 2014