International relations

The decision was made in light of attempts by the United States and its allies to renew their military presence in Central Asia, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said today.

Austria will maintain its veto on Schengen expansion, which it imposed on Bulgaria and Romania, until it sees a "sustained decline" in the number of asylum seekers, said Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg in an interview cited by Politico.

Russia's top diplomat warned Tuesday that the European Union "is becoming militarized at a record rate" and aggressive in its goal of containing Russia.

Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told a news conference he has no doubts that there is now "very little difference" between the EU and NATO.

Athens on Tuesday responded to fresh provocations from Ankara, dismissing recent comments by Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu as serving a domestic political agenda as Turkey heads to general elections on May 14.

BELGRADE - Serbian Defence Minister Milos Vucevic said on Friday the objective of the Quint states was a soonest possible recognition of the so-called Kosovo by Serbia.

The Turkish government is taking all the necessary actions for the evacuation of its nationals from Sudan where clashes between the rival groups have intensified, the Turkish foreign minister has said, repeating Ankara's concerns over the prolonged armed tension in the African country.

About a week ago the US imposed sanctions on Turkish entities it said violated US export controls and helped Russia's war effort.

In international relations, the term "power" is categorized in three forms: hard, soft and smart. Smart power refers mainly to the use of soft means of influence, such as diplomacy, combined with the exercise of hard, military power.

"It is clear that we are interested in ending the Ukrainian conflict as soon as possible. We have several times explained in detail the reasons for everything that is happening and the goals. We have explained in detail, and not once, the reasons for what is happening and those goals that we have in this regard," Lavrov said after a meeting with Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.

Greece and Turkey will have the opportunity to reassess what unites them after the elections that are scheduled to take place in both countries in May, Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias said on Friday, during a visit to the island of Imvros in Turkey.