Russia

"Frank talks" between Russian and US foreign ministers have been held to try to reduce the chance of wider conflict in Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden has said he thinks his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin will "move in" on Ukraine, but does not want "full-blown war".

US President Joe Biden's top diplomat will seek to defuse a crisis with Moscow over Ukraine when he meets the Russian foreign minister in Geneva this week.

Russia is plotting to stage acts of provocation to create a pretext to invade Ukraine, a US official has said.

As talks near over Russian-Ukrainian border tensions, the US and allies are open to discussing mutual restrictions on military activity in the region, a US official says.

China, Russia, Britain, the United States and France issued a statement in agreement that a further spread of nuclear arms and a nuclear war should be avoided.

Russian jets have bombed areas near the northwestern Syrian city of Idlib, marking a new year flare-up for the last opposition-held bastion.

Iran and Russia have both given upbeat views on talks to salvage Tehran's 2015 nuclear deal with global powers, though Western nations say negotiations were too slow.

Google has been fined $US98 million by a Moscow court for repeated failures to delete illegal content, setting a first in Russia.

European leaders are expected to warn Russia that hostile action against Ukraine could come at a "high price", amid concerns over the build-up of Russian forces on the Ukrainian border.

A space missile fired by Russia into its own satellite generated a debris field endangering the International Space Station and creating an ongoing hazard, US officials say.

Russia's ruling United Russia party, which supports President Vladimir Putin, retained its majority in parliament after a three-day election and a sweeping crackdown on its critics, despite losing…