Ukraine Blackmail

A G20 meeting in New Delhi on Thursday was in disarray after Russia accused the West of "blackmail and threats" against other countries.

Russia is resuming participation in a deal to free up grain exports from Ukraine because it realised the initiative would still work without Kremlin involvement, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday.

European Union: The European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said, the EU wants to strengthen its energy cooperation with Israel in light of Russia's use of gas supplies to "blackmail" its members over the Ukraine conflict.

European leaders denounced Russia's attempt to "blackmail" Ukraine's allies over gas supplies, as Western sanctions batter the Russian economy already struggling with its worst crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding foreign buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles from Friday or else have their supplies cut, a move European capitals rejected and which Berlin said amounted to "blackmail".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday he would be ready to open a probe into any Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US presidential election but denied that President Donald Trump had tried to blackmail him.

Russia today slammed the EU's extension of sanctions over its annexation of Crimea as "blackmail" and vowed it would not be pressured into returning the peninsula to Ukraine.

The US and EU bolstered sanctions against Russia over its alleged support of separatists in Ukraine, drawing an angry rebuke on Thursday from Moscow which said the measures amounted to "blackmail".

Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov said on Wednesday that Kiev was ready to listen to pro-Russians in the restive east but would not bow to rebel blackmail.

A G20 meeting in New Delhi on Thursday was in disarray after Russia accused the West of "blackmail and threats" against other countries.

Russia is resuming participation in a deal to free up grain exports from Ukraine because it realised the initiative would still work without Kremlin involvement, a senior Ukrainian official said on Wednesday.

European Union: The European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said, the EU wants to strengthen its energy cooperation with Israel in light of Russia's use of gas supplies to "blackmail" its members over the Ukraine conflict.

European leaders denounced Russia's attempt to "blackmail" Ukraine's allies over gas supplies, as Western sanctions batter the Russian economy already struggling with its worst crisis since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is demanding foreign buyers pay for Russian gas in roubles from Friday or else have their supplies cut, a move European capitals rejected and which Berlin said amounted to "blackmail".

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said on Thursday he would be ready to open a probe into any Ukrainian interference in the 2016 US presidential election but denied that President Donald Trump had tried to blackmail him.

Russia today slammed the EU's extension of sanctions over its annexation of Crimea as "blackmail" and vowed it would not be pressured into returning the peninsula to Ukraine.

The US and EU bolstered sanctions against Russia over its alleged support of separatists in Ukraine, drawing an angry rebuke on Thursday from Moscow which said the measures amounted to "blackmail".

Ukraine's interim President Oleksandr Turchynov said on Wednesday that Kiev was ready to listen to pro-Russians in the restive east but would not bow to rebel blackmail.