Ukraine cannot get back the Crimea peninsula, although Russia took it by annexation, Czech President Milos Zeman was quoted as saying.

• September 9, 2016

China wants to work with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to "dispel interference" in the disputed South China Sea, Premier Li Keqiang said during a regional summit in the Lao capital Vientiane.

• September 8, 2016

The United States and Russia have not reached a ceasefire deal for Syria, the U.S. State Department said on Wednesday, saying it could not confirm Moscow's announcement that the U.S. and Russian foreign ministers would meet in Geneva on Thursday.

• September 8, 2016

Donald Trump declared on Wednesday that Russia's Vladimir Putin had been a better leader than U.S. President Barack Obama, as the Republican presidential nominee used a televised forum to argue he was best equipped to reassert America's global leadership.

• September 8, 2016

The Philippines said on Wednesday it was "gravely concerned" that Chinese boats were preparing to build structures at a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, shattering an appearance of cordiality at an Asian summit in Laos.

• September 7, 2016

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday said he would travel to Ukraine with his French counterpart next week to discuss if, and when, a new round of talks involving Russia could be arranged on the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

• September 7, 2016

Syria's main opposition negotiating group would reject any deal struck by Russia and the United States on Syria's fate that was very different from its own proposed transition plan, the group's general coordinator Riyad Hijab said on Wednesday.

• September 7, 2016

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged his support to the man emerging as the likely next leader of Uzbekistan on Tuesday, during a visit that put a stamp on Moscow's claim to be the ex-Soviet republic's closest ally.

• September 6, 2016