German Chancellor Angela Merkel told Russian President Vladimir Putin on the phone on Saturday that a four-way summit to discuss the situation in eastern Ukraine would not take place until there was real progress on the Minsk peace plan.

• January 11, 2015

European Union meetings in Riga last week were heavy with the historical symbolism EU leaders turn to for relief from economic malaise, terrorism or fears of Russia

• January 11, 2015

The new head of Syria's Western-backed political opposition cast doubt on Monday on whether members of his group would attend talks in Russia this month aimed at finding a solution to the nearly four-year Syrian conflict.

• January 6, 2015

Iran denied on Saturday that it had reached an agreement with the United States to ship its surplus enriched uranium to Russia under new concessions aimed at clinching a comprehensive nuclear deal with six world powers.

• January 5, 2015

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Monday that her government had not changed its position on the desirability of a Greek exit from the euro zone, saying the policy had always been to stabilize the bloc without losing any of its members.

• January 5, 2015

Israel will withhold critical tax revenue and seek ways to bring war crimes prosecutions against Palestinian leaders in retaliation for Palestinian moves to join the International Criminal Court (ICC), Israeli officials said on Saturday.

• January 3, 2015

The German government believes that the euro zone would now be able to cope with a Greece exit if that proved to be necessary, Der Spiegel news magazine reported on Saturday, citing unnamed government sources.

• January 3, 2015

Iran denied on Saturday that it had reached an agreement with the United States to ship its surplus enriched uranium to Russia under new concessions aimed at clinching a comprehensive nuclear deal with six world powers.

• January 3, 2015