Russia's Severstal CHMF.MM said it would sell two U.S. steel plants for $2.3 billion, withdrawing from the U.S. market at a time of rising tension between Russia and the West and turning its focus to its domestic business.

• July 21, 2014

For all the tough talk, Europe is unlikely to punish Russia over last week's downing of an airliner over Ukraine beyond speeding up the imposition of already agreed individual sanctions when the bloc's foreign ministers meet on Tuesday.

• July 21, 2014

The European Union should impose harder-hitting sanctions on Russia after the downing of a Malaysian airliner in Ukraine, British Prime Minister David Cameron said on Monday, advocating an EU ban on future sales of military equipment to Moscow.

• July 21, 2014

Ukraine accused Russia and pro-Moscow rebels on Saturday of destroying evidence of "international crimes" as guerrillas and foreign observers faced off over access to the wreckage of the downed Malaysian airliner.

• July 19, 2014

Germany's foreign minister said on Saturday now may be Moscow's last opportunity to prove it is serious about peace in Ukraine as Chancellor Angela Merkel reiterated her call on Russia's Vladimir Putin to use his influence over pro-Moscow separatists.

• July 19, 2014

Germany's Angela Merkel challenged Moscow's attempt to pin the downing of a Malaysian airliner on Ukraine, pointing to Russia as a source of separatists' weapons.

• July 18, 2014

President Barack Obama imposed sanctions on some of Russia's biggest firms for the first time, striking at the heart of Vladimir Putin's powerbase by targeting companies closest to him over Moscow's failure to curb violence in Ukraine.

• July 17, 2014

Russia has quietly reached a provisional agreement with Cuba on reopening a big Soviet-era base on the Caribbean island from which it spied in the United States, a Russian security source said on Wednesday.

• July 16, 2014