The Kremlin said on Monday that Russia and the United States had not yet agreed on a date and place for a summit meeting of President Joe Biden and President Vladimir Putin and that many factors still needed to be looked at before it is finalised.

• April 26, 2021

President Vladimir Putin warned the West on Wednesday not to cross Russia’s “red lines”, saying Moscow would respond swiftly and harshly to any provocations and those responsible would regret it.

• April 23, 2021

Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia on Friday joined a fast-growing list of NATO and EU members demanding the removal of Russian diplomats for alleged spying, in actions that have infuriated Moscow and look certain to provoke further retaliation.

• April 23, 2021

Russia’s defence ministry said on Friday it had begun returning troops and military units from annexed Crimea to their permanent bases following a huge build-up near Ukraine’s border that had raised concerns in Kyiv and the West about the risk of war.

• April 23, 2021

The Czech Republic will ask European Union and NATO allies to take action in solidarity with Prague in its row with Moscow, including expelling Russian intelligence officers from their countries, acting Foreign Minister Jan Hamacek said on Tuesday.

• April 21, 2021

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has signed a law allowing reservists to be called up for military service without announcing mobilization, his office said on Wednesday.

• April 21, 2021

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Tuesday challenged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to meet him in eastern Ukraine’s Donbass region for talks on ending the conflict there and easing tensions between the two states.

• April 21, 2021

By Fuad Shahbazov, Baku-based independent regional security and defence analyst

Energy cooperation has been a key aspect of growing bilateral cooperation between China and the Arab states of the Gulf region for the past several years. Since 1996, China has become a net importer of crude oil and, as the second‑largest energy consumer in the world after the United States, is now the third‑largest importer of oil after the United States and Japan. Therefore, it should not come as a surprise that China is eying a deep and strategic partnership with the states of a region that sits on top of the world’s largest proven crude oil and natural gas reserves. READ MORE

• April 17, 2021