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US sanctions Russia for 'beginning' invasion of Ukraine
US President Joe Biden announced what he called the 'first tranche' of sanctions, including steps to starve Russia of financing and target financial institutions and the country's 'elites'.
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Ukraine urges 'tough sanctions' after Putin orders troops into rebel regions
The United States, Britain and the European Union all moved to announce new economic sanctions within hours, as European and Russian stocks tumbled and oil prices surged over news of the recognition.
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Defying West, Putin orders troops to Ukraine rebel regions
Earlier, the Kremlin leader recognised the independence of two rebel-held areas of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions of Ukraine, paving the way for an operation to deploy part of the potential invasion force he has massed around the country.
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US does not believe Putin has made 'final decision' on Ukraine
State Department spokesperson Ned Price said meanwhile that the United States has seen 'no tangible sign of de-escalation' at the Russia-Ukraine border.
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Biden urges Americans to leave Ukraine as fears of Russian invasion mount
Washington-Moscow tensions are at their highest since the Cold War, with some US estimates saying some 130,000 Russian soldiers are grouped in dozens of combat brigades near the border with Ukraine.
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Germany's Scholz to visit Russia on 15 February: Kremlin
'A visit by Scholz to Moscow will take place on the 15th,' Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters, saying the two leaders will hold 'substantial' bilateral talks.
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Xi to meet Putin as tensions rise with West
Xi has not left China since January 2020, when the country was grappling with its initial Covid-19 outbreak and locked down the central city of Wuhan where the virus was first detected.
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Biden battles accusations of 'weakness' against US rivals
The Republican opposition, including its moderate fringe, have reproached Biden for ruling out preemptive sanctions against Moscow to discourage an attack on Ukraine.
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Blinken due in Kyiv to back Ukraine as Putin stares down West
After talks last week failed to ease fears, the White House warned Tuesday that Russia was ready to attack Ukraine at 'any point'.
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Biden tells Ukraine leader US will 'respond decisively' if Russia invades
The show of US support for Ukraine comes days after Biden warned Russian President Vladimir Putin of severe consequences if Moscow launches a military invasion.
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US, Russia to hold security, Ukraine talks early January in Geneva
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov on Tuesday confirmed the date and said that they will take place in Geneva, where US President Joe Biden and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin met for their first summit in June.
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Russia to send virus specialists to South Africa to establish COVID-19 lab
Russia's leader made the pledge during a telephone call with his counterpart from South Africa Cyril Ramaphosa, who thanked Russia for its cooperation, the Kremlin said in a statement.
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'Pandora Papers' expose leaders' offshore millions
Some 35 current and former leaders are featured in the latest vast trove of documents analysed by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) - facing allegations ranging from corruption to money laundering and global tax avoidance.
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Putin's party set to retain parliament majority after polls
The vote comes in the wake of an unprecedented crackdown on the opposition this year, with Russian authorities jailing Putin's best-known domestic foe Alexei Navalny and banning his organisations as "extremist".
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Putin orders reinforcements to fight Siberia wildfires
Putin ordered Russia's emergencies ministry to "increase the group for extinguishing fires" and "raise the intensity of the work of aviation" in one of Siberia's hardest-hit regions of Yakutia.
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EU must seek 'direct contact' with Putin: Merkel
Merkel said recent events had shown that it was not enough 'if we react to the multitude of Russian provocations in an uncoordinated manner'.
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US-Russia relations at 'impasse' ahead of summit: Kremlin
Putin and Biden are to meet at a villa in Geneva on Wednesday with tensions high over a long list of disputes, from cyberattacks and election meddling to human rights violations.
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Biden says 'looking' at Russia retaliation over cyberattack
The ransomware attack on a US subsidiary of Brazilian-owned JBS has again prompted accusations that Russia is at least harboring cybercriminals.
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Russia says Belarus flight ban 'endangers' passengers
Belarus sparked international outrage by dispatching a fighter jet Sunday to intercept a Ryanair flight from Athens to Vilnius carrying opposition activist Roman Protasevich, 26.
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Russia says Navalny to be transferred to prison hospital
He was thrown behind bars in February for more than two years on old embezzlement charges, just weeks after he returned to Moscow from Germany where he had been recuperating from a near-fatal poisoning attack.
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Biden summit offer hailed in Moscow as win for Putin
With indications that work was already under way for a potential meeting in Finland, Russian officials were crowing that Moscow was finally being treated with the respect it deserves.