Russia and China on Monday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have demanded a seven-day truce in Syria's Aleppo, with Russia arguing it would allow rebels to regroup and that time was needed for talks between Washington and Moscow.

• December 5, 2016

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Monday that he hopes for progress in peace treaty talks with Russia but that the decades-old issue cannot be settled in one meeting.

• December 5, 2016

Issue # 42
12/05/2016
Earlier, Russia warned it would shoot down Ukrainian missiles and destroy launch facilities.
READ MORE in MILITARY AND DEFENCE.

• December 5, 2016

Norway on Friday urged U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to enunciate a clear and predictable policy on Russia as soon as possible, amid growing concerns in Oslo about increasing Russian military activities in the "High North" or Arctic region.

• December 3, 2016

Russia said on Saturday it was ready for talks with the United States about a withdrawal of all Syrian rebels from eastern Aleppo, where advances by the Russian-backed Syrian army and its allies threaten to deal a crushing blow to the rebellion.

• December 3, 2016

China lodged a diplomatic protest on Saturday after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump spoke by phone with President Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan, but blamed the self-ruled island Beijing claims as its own for the "petty" move.

• December 3, 2016

Georgia expects relations with the United States under Donald Trump to remain strong despite his calls for improved ties with Russia and Tbilisi will keep pressing for closer collaboration with NATO, the president of the ex-Soviet republic said.

• November 30, 2016

Russia and Islamist militants could try to boost their influence in the Balkan nations if the European Union doesn't take them in as members, Albania's Prime Minister Edi Rama said in an interview published on Wednesday.

• November 30, 2016