Region

Russia

Stories under this heading cover Russia, as well as countries in the eastern part of the European continent, such as Belarus, Ukraine, and Moldova.

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News
Zelensky to meet Trump today in Florida for crucial Ukraine talks (Updated)

Zelensky to meet Trump today in Florida for crucial Ukraine talks (Updated)

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky will meet with US president, Donald Trump, in Florida on Sunday (28 December) in what many see as crucial talks on the future of Ukraine. The time of the meeting between president Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine and US president Donald Trump, in Florida today, has been moved to 1300 hours local time. A Ukrainian delegation arrived in the United States to participate in a meeting between the two presidents. Yesterday, Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the composition of Ukraine's negotiating team: National Security and Defense Council Secretary Rustem Umerov, Economy Minister Oleksiy Sobolev, Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Andriy Hnatov, non-staff adviser to the head of the Presidential Office Oleksandr Bevz, and First Deputy Foreign Minister Serhiy Kyslytsya. On Saturday, the Ukrainian president outlined five thematic areas covered in the "peace plan" negotiations and which he wants to discuss with Trump at the meeting: "We are discussing security guarantees between Ukraine and the United States. This is one document. We are also discussing security guarantees with Europe. We are discussing the military dimension. This is part of the security guarantees." The fourth section he mentioned was a "prosperity plan, which will include many other documents," which includes discussions on raising up to $800 billion for Ukraine's reconstruction and creating a number of funds. "And fifth, what we want to discuss with the president is a plan of consistent action. That is, we want to propose, step by step, how to ensure that all the plans I've already mentioned actually work. They will, of course, discuss all of this with the Russians, and we will receive feedback," Zelenskyy stated.

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Editor's choice
Commentary
Monday Commentary: Turkey relearns an old lesson

Monday Commentary: Turkey relearns an old lesson

"After the killing of 34 Turkish soldiers in Idlib last week Turkey's leadership may be realising that whilst they may want Mr Putin out of their way in Syria. Mr Putin may want Turkey out of his way across the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. That may have indeed been an important lesson to learn or relearn" writes Dennis Sammut in this week's Monday Commentary
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Commentary
Monday Commentary: If Russians and Turks start killing each other in Libya and Syria, the consequences may be unpredictable

Monday Commentary: If Russians and Turks start killing each other in Libya and Syria, the consequences may be unpredictable

Reflecting on new tensions in Russian-Turkish relations Dennis Sammut says that Erdogan is not the first one to discover that the hug of the Russian bear comes with a price. Others, not least in the Caucasus region, are watching as this drama unfolds, and wondering what the consequences may be.
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News
EU foreign policy chief to visit Iran Monday

EU foreign policy chief to visit Iran Monday

Following in the footsteps of his two predecessors, Catherine Ashton and Federica Morgherni, Borrell is engaging personally and fully with the "Iran nuclear file", and the visit is seen as an attempt by the EU to save the 2015 nuclear deal between Tehran and world powers.
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Opinion
Opinion: Will Putin allow Belarus to play a balancing act?

Opinion: Will Putin allow Belarus to play a balancing act?

With Pompeo due in Minsk this week, and the Belarus presidential elections on the horizon, Moscow and Minsk have some difficult decisions to take. Benyamin Poghosyan discusses the state of Russia-Belarus relations in this op-ed for commonspace.eu