President Vladimir Putin's order to withdraw troops to their bases in southern Russia is a move towards easing the Ukraine crisis, but Moscow has made previous pledges which it has not fulfilled, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday.

• October 13, 2014

Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered Russian troops to withdraw to their permanent bases after military exercises in Rostov region near the border with Ukraine, the Kremlin said, in a sign of some tension easing before a key meeting next week.

• October 12, 2014

Statements by NATO's new chief do not raise hopes of a rapid improvement in relations between Russia and the military alliance, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said on Thursday.

• October 9, 2014

Islamic State raised its flag on a building on the outskirts of the Syrian frontier town of Kobani on Monday after an assault of almost three weeks, but the town's Kurdish defenders said its fighters had not reached the city centre.

• October 6, 2014

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday it was essential that both Ukrainian forces and pro-Russian separatists fully observed a ceasefire in eastern Ukraine clinched nearly a month ago.

• October 3, 2014

Ukraine accused Russian forces on Friday of helping separatists step up pressure on government troops holding the main airport in the eastern city of Donetsk, threatening a fragile ceasefire.

• October 3, 2014

Russia said on Friday the mortar fire that killed a Swiss worker from the International Committee of the Red Cross in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine was fired from territory controlled by Ukrainian government forces.

• October 3, 2014

NATO's new leader offered an olive branch to Russia on Wednesday, saying he saw no contradiction between a strong alliance and building a constructive relationship with Moscow.

• October 1, 2014