Ukraine accused pro-Russian rebels on Monday of carrying out the heaviest artillery attacks on government positions in six months and warned of signs the conflict was escalating despite a ceasefire deal.

• August 10, 2015

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the United States should cooperate with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to fight Islamic State and that this required an international coalition uniting all those for whom the jihadists are "a common enemy".

• August 9, 2015

The leader of Turkey's pro-Kurdish HDP urged the militant Kurdistan Workers Party on Saturday to "remove its finger from the trigger" and said the government should launch talks to halt a surge in violence.

• August 8, 2015

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Thursday he had reached an agreement with his Russian counterpart on a draft U.N. resolution aimed at identifying the perpetrators of chemical weapons attacks in Syria.

• August 6, 2015

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said on Wednesday that Beijing had halted land reclamation in the South China Sea, and called on countries in the region to speed up talks on how claimant states should conduct themselves in the disputed waters.

• August 5, 2015

Iran's nuclear deal should bring stability and "good neighborliness" rather than interference, Gulf Arab states told U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Monday as they began talks on the merits of its historic accord with world powers.

• August 3, 2015

Kurdish militia fighting Islamic State in Syria accused Turkey on Saturday of targeting it at least four times in the past week, calling the attacks provocative and hostile.

• August 1, 2015

China and Russia will hold joint naval and air defense drills in the Sea of Japan, China said on Thursday, the latest exercises between the two countries which could concern Japan, involved in a marine dispute with China to the south.

• July 30, 2015