YAOUNDE, March 27 (Reuters) – Canada’s minister of international trade said on Friday that he hopes to conclude a free-trade agreement with South America’s Mercosur bloc by the autumn. “We’re stepping up the negotiation timelines a little bit. Hopefully we can have negotiations every six weeks or so, and hopefully we can get it done…
WASHINGTON, March 27 (Reuters) – Iran’s response to a U.S. peace proposal aimed at ending the war in the Middle East is expected later on Friday, according to a source briefed on the matter. U.S. President Donald Trump and top White House officials have been told via interlocutors that Iran’s counter-proposal would likely arrive Friday,…
BEIJING, March 27 (Reuters) – China’s commerce ministry said on Friday it had initiated two counter-probes into U.S. practices hampering the flow of Chinese products into the United States, in a move suggesting no retaliation from Beijing immediately against recent U.S. probes. The two investigations – to conclude within six months but which could be…
MANILA, March 27 (Reuters) – Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Friday that the ASEAN Leaders’ summit will go ahead in May, but will be shortened to a “bare-bones” programme that focuses on addressing issues like fuel supplies, food prices and migrant workers. Marcos said he has consulted with his counterparts in the regional…
By Daniel Flynn and Olena Harmash KYIV, March 26 (Reuters) – Ukraine is using long-range strikes on energy infrastructure to maintain pressure on Russia after international oil sanctions on Moscow were eased this month in the wake of the Iran war, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said. Washington issued a 30-day waiver this month for countries to…
WASHINGTON, March 26 (Reuters) – President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Iran to make a deal to end U.S. and Israeli bombing or face more strikes on their country. “They now have the chance, that is Iran, to permanently abandon their nuclear ambitions and to join a new path forward,” Trump said during a Cabinet…
BERLIN, March 24 (Reuters) – Germany’s foreign minister said on Tuesday that he believed U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement about talks with Iran could mark a turning point in the nearly month-long conflict. “Something is happening, and that’s a good thing in this time when there have been more risks of escalation than possibilities of…
MOSCOW, March 24 (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Tuesday, when asked about a Reuters report that Russia was postponing a plan to boost long-term fiscal reserves, said that the issues were being worked out and that they were being discussed at President Vladimir Putin’s meetings on the economy. Reuters’ sources said on March 23 that…
WASHINGTON, March 23 (Reuters) – Senior U.S. officials traveled to Kyiv this week for a meeting of the U.S.-Ukraine Reconstruction Investment Fund, with both sides hoping to move forward soon with a first investment project, U.S. and Ukrainian officials said. The fund, established as part of a minerals deal signed between the U.S. and Ukraine…
March 21 (Reuters) – Ukrainian and U.S. negotiators trying to move towards a settlement of the four-year war pitting Kyiv against Moscow opened their latest round of talks in Florida on Saturday, with more discussions planned through the weekend. Russian representatives were not present at the meeting. “We continued discussing key issues and the next…