WORLD

EU policy makers failed to agree Wednesday on a new package of sanctions against Moscow, including a ban on Russian coal imports, Reuters reports, citing its sources. The latest round of economic restrictions was proposed by the European Commission earlier this week. Persons familiar with the matter explained the fiasco …

If Western countries continue to expel Russian diplomats, Moscow won’t rule out the possibility of severing diplomatic ties with them, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday. He described the recent wave of expulsions as “closing the window” for continued diplomatic relations. “There is such a potential risk, since every …

Russia will remain a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council and nobody can change that, US officials have admitted, following Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s request to exclude Moscow from the UN’s most powerful body. “[President Zelensky’s] frustration, which we share, that Russia is a permanent member of the …

The EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, has said the bloc is sending weapons to Ukraine so that the conflict with Russia does not end in Kiev’s defeat. “We want it to end as soon as possible, but not in any way,” Borrell told the European Parliament on Wednesday. “Because if …

Citing “atrocities in Ukraine, including in Bucha,” the US on Wednesday rolled out new sanctions against the “Putin regime” and Russian banks, companies and government officials – as well as their family members. Presiden Vladimir Putin’s daughters and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s wife and daughter were among the Russians listed in …

The price of coal jumped in Europe, the US and Asia on Tuesday after the EU announced restrictions on imports of the fossil fuel from Russia, according to figures from the leading energy exchanges. The price shot up by 14% to a three-week high, data from ICE Futures Europe show, …

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has compared recent Western sanctions to the methods of the Spanish Inquisition, a medieval Catholic Church institution used to combat heresy. The dark page of history has clear parallels with the sanctions which have been imposed on Russia in the wake of Moscow’s military operation …

The US is profiting from its campaign to impose anti-Russian sanctions, while even its close allies are suffering, Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said during a briefing on Wednesday. The drive for anti-Russian sanctions should be dropped to resolve the Ukrainian crisis, he claimed. Washington is coercing other nations …

The UK’s Stirling University has reportedly removed works of iconic British novelist Jane Austin in a bid to “contribute to increased diversity” of the English module. The college will replace the author of classic bestselling romance novel ‘Pride and Prejudice’ with African-American Nobel laureate Toni Morrison, according to a Telegraph …

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, the long-serving firebrand leader of Russia’s parliamentary opposition LDPR party, died on Wednesday in Moscow, aged 75. He had spent over two months in hospital, suffering with coronavirus. Known for his outspoken nationalist views, he had long been the country’s most popular non-governmental political figure, according to opinion …