EU leaders set to extend Russia sanctions at summit
Brussels, Dec 14, 2015 (AFP) -- EU leaders will debate sanctions against Russia over the Ukraine conflict at a summit this week and are expected to extend them for another six months, officials said on Monday.
Italy has called for a disussion when the leaders of the 28-nation bloc meet on Thursday and Friday, meaning that the sanctions rollover did not happen as planned at a meeting of EU ambassadors in Brussels last week.
The EU imposed wide-ranging economic sanctions targeting Russia's banking, oil and defence sectors after the July 2014 shooting down of a Malaysia Airlines jet, widely blamed on pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine.
"I understand this will be for the European Council later this week as it has always been when it comes to sanctions on Russia," EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini told reporters at a meeting of foreign ministers.
"I don't see major problems in any of the member states on the political decisions" on extending sanctions.
While the European Council -- which groups the EU's leaders -- always has to sign off on sanctions decisions, a preliminary decision is often taken at ambassadorial or ministerial level beforehand.
Italian Foreign Minister Paolo Gentiloni said he did "not forsee a long discussion" on sanctions at the summit.
Italy, one of Russia's principal trading partners in Europe, said last week it wants to keep communication channels with Moscow open despite the Ukrainian crisis.
There have long been divisions in the EU over the economic sanctions, which have resurfaced in recent months as Brussels and Washington try to get Russia on board to end the Syrian war.
It has also imposed travel bans and asset freezes on Russian and Ukrainian individuals held responsible for backing the pro-Moscow rebels, as well as sanctions targeting those involved in Moscow's annexation of Crimea.
Kerry heads to Moscow for tough Syria, Ukraine talks
PARIS (AP) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is heading to Russia for talks aimed at narrowing gaps with Russian leaders over a political transition to end Syria's civil war and restoring stability in restive eastern Ukraine.
After spending last week at climate talks outside the French capital, Kerry leaves Paris on Monday for Moscow where he will meet Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday. Before departing, Kerry will attend a French-hosted foreign ministers meeting to compare notes on a conference of Syrian opposition figures held last week in Saudi Arabia.
Washington and Moscow are deeply divided over the political process they both agree is needed to end the war in Syria. They are also at odds over Ukraine, where Russia is supporting separatists in the east.
Here is today's map of the security situation in eastern Ukraine, according to the National Security and Defense Council (CLICK TO ENLARGE):
Police Search Homes Of Moscow-Based Ukrainian Librarians
Russian police have searched the Moscow homes of at least two employees of the Library of Ukrainian Literature.
The lawyer for the library's director said police searched the homes of Anna Pavlenko and Tatiana Muntian early on December 14.
The Russian Investigative Committee said searches were also made in other apartments belonging to individuals who "did not work for the library, but were receiving salaries from it."
The library's director, Natalya Sharina, 58, was detained in late October and charged with inciting extremism and ethnic hatred.
She is being held under house arrest.
Russia's Investigative Committee said authorities had found books in Sharina's library by Ukrainian ultranationalist author Dmytro Korchynsky, whose works are banned in Russia.
Sharina rejected the charges, saying the books had been planted in her library by police.
Based on reporting by Interfax and TASS
Ukraine To Try In Absentia Self-Appointed 'President Of Southeastern Ukraine'
Ukrainian officials say that a man who has proclaimed himself to be "president of Southeastern Ukraine" will be tried in absentia in Ukraine's eastern city of Kharkiv.
The Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor's office said on December 14 that charges of separatism and terrorism against Anatoliy Vizyr, the former chairman of Ukraine's Luhansk regional appeals court, have been sent to the court for trial.
Vizyr, who is believed to be in a part of eastern Ukraine controlled by pro-Russian rebels, proclaimed himself in April 2014 to be president of a hypothetical state in Ukraine made up of the country's Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Mykolayiv, and Kherson regions.
Vizyr's announcement came in the wake of the military conflict between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian armed forces in eastern Ukraine, which has killed more than 9,000 people since March 2014.
Based on reporting by UNIAN and Interfax
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