South China Morning Post - Russia & Central Asia

Vladimir Putin indicated on Thursday that Russia will not compromise on its hardline demands to end the Ukraine offensive but offered a short-term ceasefire in a key frontline city during a Kremlin meeting with US envoys. The Russian president said he would not water down his demands to control parts of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed and ruled out agreeing to foreign...

Russia’s ambassador to the United States, Alexander Darchiev, has died “suddenly” at the age of 66 after just one and a half years in the job, Moscow’s foreign ministry announced on Wednesday. The ministry called Darchiev an “outstanding diplomat, an experienced leader and a kind colleague”. He was appointed in March 2025. Moscow did not give more details on the death. Darchiev ...

World leaders began arriving on Wednesday to start formal discussions at the United Nations climate change conference in Turkey, hoping to agree on concrete actions to curb global warming after a year of deadly floods, heatwaves and other climate-related disasters. But what can and will be accomplished at the 11-day Conference of the Parties, called Cop31, remains to be seen. Pa...

Prominent climate change activist Greta Thunberg arrived Tuesday at the UN climate meeting, where she emphasised the need to protect people and the planet over profits and power. This year’s meeting – called the Conference of the Parties, or Cop31 – comes after a year of climate-induced heatwaves and other disasters. As she arrived at the meeting venue in Antalya, Turkey, Thunbe...

Russian and Ukrainian officials met on Tuesday for their first US-brokered talks since February, after President Donald Trump suggested last week that a broad deal was possible on ending the war in Ukraine and guaranteeing security in Europe. Russian state news agency RIA reported the start of what is scheduled to be two days of talks, in which Trump’s envoys Steve Witkoff and J...