Europe

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: The European Union will not use preventive sanctions against Russia due to the situation around Ukraine because of the position of a number of European countries that advocate a more balanced and moderate approach towards the Russian Federation, Deputy Director at the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, Valdai Club expert Dmitry Suslov said in an interview with TASS on Monday.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: Russia still has a chance to reach a consensus with its Western partners on issues of security guarantees, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.

When asked by the president whether there is a change to reach an agreement with the Western partners on the key security issues of concerns of the Russian side, the minister answered in the affirmative. "After all, as a foreign minister, I should say that there always is a chance," he said.

MOSCOW, February 14. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will discuss de-escalation around Ukraine, security guarantees and the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline at a meeting, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Monday.

"All these subjects obviously top the agenda," the Kremlin spokesman said when asked to clarify whether de-escalation around Ukraine, security guarantees and Nord Stream 2 will be discussed at the leaders' meeting.

KIEV, Feb 14 (NNN-XINHUA) – Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, and U.S. President, Joe Biden, held a telephone conversation yesterday, to discuss the security situation around Ukraine.

Zelensky and Biden exchanged information and discussed ways of de-escalation, said a statement on the Ukrainian presidential website. The parties also discussed the issue of increasing Ukraine’s financial and energy stability amid the crisis.

Zelensky stressed that, Kiev understands all current risks and is ready for “any developments.”

MOSCOW, Feb 14 (Reuters) - A senior Russian military official said on Monday that Russia was ready to open fire on foreign ships and submarines that illegally enter its territorial waters, the Interfax news agency reported.

Any such decision would, however, be taken only at the "highest level", Stanislav Gadzhimagomedov, deputy head of the main operational department of the General Staff, was quoted as saying.

WARSAW, Feb 14 (Reuters) - An additional eight U.S. F-15 fighter jets landed in Poland on Monday, the Polish defence minister said, amid mounting tensions in eastern Europe after Russia massed troops near its border with Ukraine.

"More American F-15 fighters landed today at the base in Lask," Mariusz Blaszczak wrote on Twitter. "Eight aircraft will join those that came to Poland last week."

MOSCOW, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Russia's parliament will vote on Tuesday to decide whether to ask President Vladimir Putin to recognise two Russian-backed breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent, the speaker of the Duma lower house said.

Vyacheslav Volodin said lawmakers would consider two alternative resolutions on recognition of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, in the area known as the Donbass, where separatist forces have been fighting the Ukrainian army since 2014.

PARIS, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Four men went on trial on Monday over the murder of an elderly priest who was knifed to death at his altar in a militant attack that rocked France.

Father Jacques Hamel was leading morning mass in the Normandy town of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in July 2016 when two attackers stormed in, forced the 85-year-old to his knees and slit his throat. They were both shot dead by police.

VIENNA, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Iran is "in a hurry" to strike a new nuclear accord as long as its national interests are protected, its foreign minister said on Monday as Tehran and the United States resumed indirect talks on salvaging Tehran's 2015 agreement with world powers.

The talks, with European intermediaries shuttling between the two, have been held in Vienna since April amid growing Western fears about Tehran’s accelerating nuclear advances, seen by Western powers as irreversible unless a deal is struck soon.

KYIV, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Ukraine's biggest airline said on Monday that its insurers had terminated cover for at least some of its aircraft on flights in Ukrainian airspace, as Russia masses a huge military force on the country's border.

Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) said it had received the notification from its insurers as experts said more airlines were expected to avoid Ukraine's airspace following a U.S. warning that Moscow could invade its neighbour any time.