Ukraine and Russia appear all but certain to take their dispute over a $3 billion Eurobond to court after Ukraine said it would not repay the bond when it matures next week, prompting Russia to cry default and say a legal battle was now on the cards.

• December 18, 2015

India's prime minister is expected to promote deals for Russian nuclear reactors and military helicopters worth billions of dollars on a trip to Moscow next week, attracted by promises to transfer technology that Western nations have been slow to make.

• December 18, 2015

The shepherd's widow no longer asks God for peace.
Like many Kurds in Turkey's southeast, Sevgi Gezici, 22, believed President Tayyip Erdogan would relent in a violent clampdown against Kurdish militants after his party won back its majority in an election in November.

• December 18, 2015

Ukraine's Finance Ministry said on Thursday it was committed to negotiating in good faith on the restructuring of a $3 billion Eurobond held entirely by Russia, which in turn said it was waiting for a proposal from Kiev.

• December 17, 2015

Vietnam's military is steeling itself for conflict with China as it accelerates a decade-long modernization drive, Hanoi's biggest arms buildup since the height of the Vietnam War.

• December 17, 2015

Japan and Indonesia will strengthen their security cooperation and begin talks on transfers of defense equipment, their foreign and defense ministers said on Thursday, as China's maritime expansion leads its neighbors to forge closer ties.

• December 17, 2015

President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered his government to suspend Russia's free trade zone with Ukraine from Jan. 1, making good on Moscow's threats to Kiev which seeks closer ties with the European Union.

• December 16, 2015

Ukraine accused Russia on Wednesday of looting two of its oil rigs after Crimea-based oil and gas firm Chornomornaftogaz moved the equipment off the coast of the annexed peninsula into Russian waters.

• December 16, 2015