U.N. Security Council

The U.S. issued some of its starkest, most detailed warnings yet about how a Russian invasion of Ukraine might unfold, and its Western allies went on high alert for any attempts by the Kremlin to create a false pretext for a new war in Europe.

Senior officials from Turkey and Greece will hold the 64th round of exploratory talks on Feb. 22 in Athens, a dialogue mechanism that has been running since the early 2000s, amid an ongoing quarrel over the latter's continued efforts of the armament of the islands that must be kept demilitarized according to international law.

Russia accused the West on Monday of "whipping up tensions" over Ukraine and said the U.S. had brought "pure Nazis" to power in Kyiv as the U.N. Security Council held a stormy and bellicose debate on Moscow's troop buildup near its southern neighbor.

Despite all calls and warnings, the consent of the Turkish Cypriot authorities was not sought once again, contrary to the United Nations rules and principles, while the U.N. Security Council extended the mandate of the U.N. Peacekeeping Force in the Island of Cyprus (UNFICYP) for six months with its resolution 2618 (2022) adopted on Jan. 27, the Foreign Ministry said.

Protesters were defiant on the streets of Sudan on Oct. 26 demonstrating against a military coup, as international condemnation of the country's security forces ramped up with the U.N. Security Council expected to meet later.

"Returning to the past is not an option," chanted the crowds, who remained outside despite soldiers opening fire and reportedly killing at least four people.

North Korea fired a suspected submarine-launched ballistic missile into the sea on Oct. 19, the South's military said, the nuclear-armed country's latest advance in weapons technology and one that could give it a second-strike capability.

Turkey supports the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) and wants to see its voice become stronger, the country's foreign minister said on Oct. 11. 

At a summit marking NAM's 60th anniversary in Serbia's capital Belgrade, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu hailed the movement as the "voice of a just and inclusive world."

Russia is "determined" to continue close cooperation and coordinated work with Turkey on diplomatic and military lines to fully normalize the situation in Syria, the country's Foreign Ministry said on Oct. 7.

The Syrian settlement traditionally occupies one of the central places in dialogue between Moscow and Ankara, Maria Zakharova told a news conference in Moscow.

North and South Korea restored their cross-border hotline on Oct. 4, a step that Seoul said could help improve relations after Pyongyang sparked global concern with a string of missile tests in recent weeks.

Nuclear-armed North Korea fired what appeared to be a short-range missile into the sea on Sept. 28, the South's military said, as Pyongyang's U.N. ambassador insisted it had an undeniable right to test its weapons.