President Trump hosted Micheál Martin, the prime minister of Ireland, at the White House on Wednesday, with an escalating trade dispute with Europe hovering over the usual pomp and circumstance. Official Washington, dappled in green, feted Mr. Martin at the traditional visit ahead of St. Patrick’s Day. But Mr. Trump gave no hint of backing … Read more
Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, dressed in fatigues, visited a command post near the front in Kursk late Wednesday to cheer on his military’s ejection of Ukrainian forces from the Russian border region. The Russian leader’s pointed visit came a day after a U.S. delegation met in Saudi Arabia with Ukrainian officials, who agreed to … Read more
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday that he hoped a cease-fire between Russia and Ukraine could take place within “days” if Russian leaders agreed, and that he planned to get diplomats from the Group of 7 allied nations to focus on ending the war in a meeting this week in Canada. “Here’s what … Read more
Northvolt, Europe’s biggest hope for producing batteries in the region to power the transition to electric vehicles, will be split up and sold after it filed for bankruptcy on Wednesday in its home country, Sweden. The company, which just a few years ago appeared to be Europe’s best chance to compete against Chinese rivals, filed … Read more
Europeans reacted with relief to the announcement on Tuesday that Ukraine had agreed with the United States on a 30-day cease-fire in its war with Russia and anxiously awaited Moscow’s response. They were relieved because Washington announced simultaneously that it would immediately restore military and intelligence support for Ukraine. And there was expectation that Russia … Read more
The German defense contractor Rheinmetall, Europe’s largest producer of munitions, said on Wednesday that it was positioned to profit from the region’s willingness to increase military spending as President Trump shifts the United States away from its support of Europe. Defying the malaise that has plagued the German economy for the past two years, Rheinmetall … Read more
Armed groups and foreign fighters linked to the government but not yet integrated into it were primarily responsible for sectarian massacres in Syria’s coastal region over the past week, a war monitoring group said in a new report. The U.S. secretary of state, Marco Rubio, said on Wednesday that the U.S. would “watch the decisions … Read more
Unable to calm student-led protests that just kept growing, Serbia’s strongman leader, Aleksandar Vucic, reached for some tried-and-tested scapegoats, unleashing his media attack dogs on foreign-financed groups that have nettled him for years. But what started as a familiar ritual of intimidation against groups that document issues like corruption, human rights abuses and electoral fraud … Read more
The captain of a container ship that struck an oil tanker transporting fuel for the U.S. military on Monday was a Russian citizen, the company that owns that ship said on Wednesday. The man was arrested in northern England on Tuesday on suspicion of gross negligence manslaughter. One crew member is missing and presumed dead … Read more
As recently as January, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia emphatically rejected the idea of a temporary cease-fire in Ukraine. But after a month in which President Trump turned American foreign policy on its head and Russian forces made progress in a key battle, the Kremlin now appears keen at least to entertain the 30-day … Read more