Europe

MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/: Threats to Russia’s security will increase significantly in the event of Ukraine's admission to NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday.

"If Russia faces such a threat as Ukraine’s admission to the North Atlantic Alliance, to NATO, then the threats to our country will increase many times," Putin said and recalled Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty "from which it is clear that all the countries of the alliance must fight on the side of one of their members if one Ally is considered as under attack."

LONDON, Feb 21 (Reuters) - Britain's elections watchdog asked the government on Monday to reconsider proposed changes to its oversight arrangements, warning they could impact its independence.

The government is hoping to pass wide-ranging legislation to update the laws around elections with what it calls the aim of protecting the health of Britain's democracy.

WINDSOR, England, Feb 21 (Reuters) - After the shame of Prince Andrew's U.S. sex abuse lawsuit and Prince Charles embroilment in a cash for honours scandal, Queen Elizabeth catching COVID-19 has rounded off a week of terrible news for the British royals.

Buckingham Palace said on Sunday the monarch, who turns 96 in two months, was suffering mild symptoms after testing positive for the virus. But growing health fears and scandals involving the family are threatening to overshadow national celebrations to mark her 70th anniversary on the throne.

BRUSSELS, Feb 21 (Reuters) - The European Union will not impose sanctions on Russia just yet, its foreign policy chief said on Monday, rebuffing a call from Kyiv to take such steps now to avert a war rather than wait until after any possible Russian invasion.

Western countries fear a build-up of Russian troops near Ukraine in recent weeks is a prelude to an invasion, which Moscow denies. The United States and European allies have said any attack would trigger severe sanctions against Moscow, but Kyiv wants these to be imposed now. 

ATHENS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- The charred body of a man was recovered on Sunday in a truck on a ferry off the Greek island of Corfu, the local fire brigade announced.

A fire had broken out on the car deck of the ferry on Friday, after it departed from the port of Igoumenitsa en route to Brindisi in Italy. 280 people were rescued from the vessel, including two men who were found several hours after the mass evacuation.

On Sunday, one more person was found alive on the ship, a 21-year-old Belarusian man who was transferred to a local hospital in a stable condition.

PARIS, Feb. 20 (Xinhua) -- French President Emmanuel Macron and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin pledged to "avoid an escalation, reduce risks and preserve peace" in eastern Ukraine during a phone call on Sunday, the French presidential office said in a press release.

BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union foreign ministers on Monday discussed ways to ease tensions in Bosnia and prevent the possible breakup up of the ethnically divided Balkan country as the peace agreement brokered over 25 years ago continues to unravel.

“The nationalist and separatist rhetoric is increasing in Bosnia and Herzegovina and jeopardizing the stability and even the integrity of the country,” EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in Brussels, where he chaired a meeting of the 27-country bloc’s foreign ministers.

Paris, Feb 21 (PTI) India and France have inked a roadmap to enhance their bilateral exchanges on the blue economy and forge a common vision of ocean governance based on the rule of law and cooperate on sustainable and resilient coastal and waterways infrastructure.

The agreement was signed during External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's three-day visit to France which began on Sunday with bilateral talks with his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.

MUNICH (AP) — Acknowledging “the real possibility of war,” Vice President Kamala Harris wrapped up a weekend of outreach to European allies with a push to bolster the West’s resolve in confronting Moscow with crippling sanctions as increasingly dire signs suggest Russia’s Vladimir Putin plans to order an invasion of Ukraine.

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia on Sunday rescinded earlier pledges to pull tens of thousands of its troops back from Ukraine’s northern border, a move that U.S. leaders said put Russia another step closer to what they said was the planned invasion of Ukraine. Residents of Ukraine’s capital filled a gold-domed cathedral to pray for peace.