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U.S. Secretary of Commerce visits Ukraine.
U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker will fly to Kyiv today.The Commerce Department noted that upon arriving in Kiev, Pritzker will meet with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk and will discuss "progress on the country’s ambitious economic reform agenda."
"During the bilateral talks, Prime Minister of Ukraine and the U.S. Secretary of Commerce will discuss the Ukraine government’s program of economic reforms, the major achievements of the parties …
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Syria talks held in Vienna.
Top diplomats from Russia, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Turkey arrived in Vienna for talks aimed at charting a new path toward ending the Syrian civil war.
The envoys from Washington, Riyadh and Ankara – all of which back groups battling against Assad – will look to sound out Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov after the embattled Syrian strongman made a surprise visit to Moscow to meet President Vladimir Putin this week.
On September 30 Russia launched air strikes in Syria which …
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Putin's approval rating hits new high.
Russian President Vladimir Putin's approval rating has hit a record high of almost 90 percent, primarily as a result of his decision to launch air strikes against Islamist militants in Syria, Russia's state pollster said on Thursday.
It is slightly smaller than the rating of the president of Romania, Nicolae Ceausescu, shortly before his execution, but higher than the rating of Hosni Mubarak, a few years before the Revolution of 2011, which resulted in Egypt's President resignation and trial. …
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Russian military to be permanently stationed in the Arctic.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told Russian news agencies on Thursday that a military unit will be permanently stationed in the Arctic by 2018. He said Russia is building several new bases in the Arctic as well as rebuilding six Soviet-era air bases there.
"We are not hiding this from anyone: we have practically finished building bases on the Novosibirsk Archipelago and on Kotelny island," Shoigu said, adding that modern military technology was "necessary for guarding borders" in the …
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U.S. to Ship Modified Radar Systems to Ukraine.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal, advanced radar systems being shipped to Ukraine to counter artillery strikes by pro-Russia separatists have been modified to prevent them from peering into Russia.
The modifications drew fire from a leading Republican critic of the Obama administration, who called it a misguided attempt to mollify Vladimir Putin.
President Barack Obama signed an order on Sept. 29 to give Ukraine two radar systems worth $10 million each. U.S. officials said this week …