European union eu
Putin denounces 'confrontational' EU stance on Russia
Putin stressed that Russia was ready to 'resume normal depoliticised' ties with the European Union if there's a will to do so in Brussels, the Kremlin said.
The EU's ties with Russia have been in the doldrums since Moscow seized Crimea and began fuelling the war in Ukraine in 2014 - and there are concerns about its involvement in Belarus, Syria, Libya, central Africa and the Caucasus.
The European Commission remains opposed to a blanket travel ban or closures of national borders across the European Union, despite some members seeking tougher measures.
This will provisionally allow tariff-free trade with Britain to continue after it leaves the EU single market at the New Year.
The country will now not tumble off a trade 'cliff-edge' come 1 January, avoiding a mountain of harmful tariffs and quotas.
The final 2,000-page agreement was held up by last-minutre wrangling over fishing as both sides haggled over the access EU fisherman will get to Britain's waters after the end of the year.
The new variant of the virus, which has also been detected in small numbers elsewhere, appears to spread more easily than other types but there is no evidence it is more lethal or resistant to vaccines, according to experts.
Whatever happens, Britain will leave the EU single market and customs union, leading to the re-introduction of border checks for the first time in decades.
On Tuesday, British MPs backed a bill to regulate the UK's internal market from January 1, when Britain completes its post-Brexit transition period and leaves the EU single market and customs union.
In all, around 7.5% of the more than 510 million people in the EU did not hold the citizenship of the country where they lived as of January 1, 2017, according to Eurostat.
The UK was set to leave the EU at the end of the week but that’s been potentially delayed to 12 April.
Britain is due to leave the European Union on 29 March and the December meeting will be seen as a signal of solidarity between NATO and the UK.
The decision is likely to worsen relations between the EU and President Joseph Kabila’s government, which has lobbied against sanctions it calls an illegal violation of its sovereignty.
There has been a sharp decline in the value of the pound with the rand strengthening to 17.97 to sterling on Friday.
After months of talks, May announced late Tuesday that negotiators had finally struck a draft agreement on the terms of Britain's withdrawal from the European Union next March.
Britain’s Financial Services Minister John Glen said government was prioritising the need to have a long-term and best solution for the 'power house' financial services sector.
But three days after talks stalled over the Irish border “backstop”, thwarting hopes of a deal at the summit, May arrived determined to stress that an accord was still on the cards.
Despite what geography might suggest, the UK isn’t an island in foreign policy terms and becoming a less reliable partner as a consequence of the destabilising process of leaving the EU could jeopardise the networks and coalitions the UK has built up over decades.
The veteran leftist is expected to dodge direct commitments on the toxic issue, and instead advance a radical domestic agenda built around themes of social justice.