China, backed by Russia, blocked a short U.N. Security Council statement on Myanmar on Friday, diplomats said, after the 15-member body met to discuss the situation in Rakhine state, where the country's military is conducting a security operation.

• March 17, 2017

Iran has challenged the need for it to ship sensitive material abroad if its stock exceeds a limit set by its nuclear deal with major powers.

• March 17, 2017

Venezuelan state oil company PDVSA has offered Russian counterpart Rosneft a stake in a joint venture in the country's Orinoco Belt extra-heavy crude area, five industry sources said, in a sign of the Latin American nation's dire economic situation and Moscow's growing muscle there.

• March 16, 2017

A member of Lithuania's parliament is facing impeachment proceedings and an investigation into whether his ties to Russian business and media posed a threat to national security.

• March 16, 2017

Saudi Arabia's King Salman oversaw the signing of deals worth as much as $65 billion on the first day of a visit to Beijing on Thursday, as the world's largest oil exporter looks to cement ties with the world's second-largest economy.

• March 16, 2017

Ukraine will impose sanctions on the Ukrainian subsidiaries of Russian state-owned banks, the central bank said on Wednesday, part of a wider crackdown over increased tensions in eastern separatist regions.

• March 15, 2017

Poland aims to use "all legal means" to block the European Union's proposed terms for settling its antitrust investigation into Russian gas company Gazprom (GAZP.MM), the country's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

• March 15, 2017

Turkey may cancel a migrant readmission agreement with the European Union, and is also re-evaluating a $6 billion refugee deal with the bloc, foreign minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said in a televised interview late Wednesday.

• March 15, 2017