Europe

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainians defied pressure from Moscow with a national show of flag-waving unity Wednesday, while the West warned that it saw no sign of a promised pullback of Russian troops from Ukraine’s borders despite Kremlin declarations of a withdrawal.

While a feared Russian invasion of Ukraine on Wednesday did not materialize, the United States and its allies maintain that the threat remains strong, with Europe’s security and economic stability in the balance.

BRUSSELS (AP) — In a ruling hailed as a boost to democratic values, the European Union’s highest court said Wednesday that the 27-nation bloc can suspend support payments to member states if they breach rule of law principles.

The right-wing governments of Hungary and Poland, which had challenged the EU’s right to take such action, responded by arguing the rule lacked a proper legal basis and would fundamentally interfere with their running of national business.

15 Feb 2022; MEMO: The European Commission called on France to disclose whether it provided Egypt with internet and communications surveillance and espionage equipment, as French media has recently claimed.

This comes days before Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi is expected to take part in the joint European and African Union summit being held in Brussels on 17-18 February.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia said Wednesday it was returning more troops and weapons to bases, yet another gesture apparently aimed at easing fears it is planning to invade Ukraine, even as the U.S. said the threat of an attack remained.

Russia has massed about 150,000 troops east, north and south of Ukraine, sparking Western concerns it was planning an assault. There have been no indications of a significant withdrawal of those forces, but this week has seen a handful of gestures from Moscow that offered hope that Europe might avoid war following weeks of escalating East-West tensions.

LONDON, February 15. /TASS/: Russia will not invade Ukraine, unless the Kiev regime resorts to provocations that would hurt Russian citizens, Russian Permanent Representative to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said in an interview for The Guardian.

"We will not invade Ukraine unless we are provoked to do that," he said. "If the Ukrainians launch an attack against Russia, you shouldn’t be surprised if we counterattack. Or, if they start blatantly killing Russian citizens anywhere - Donbass or wherever."

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 166,631 over the past day to 14,480,596, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Tuesday.

In relative terms, the growth rate reached 1.16%.

As many as 21,833 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized in Russia in the past day, up 108.9% from 10,451 a day earlier. Meanwhile, in 80 regions the number of those hospitalized has increased, while in 5 regions the number has decreased, according to the crisis center.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: The State Duma approved a resolution at its session on Tuesday to forward to the Russian president a draft appeal by the lower house of Russia’s parliament as proposed by the Communist faction on recognizing the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR).

The decision was supported by 351 lawmakers, with 16 votes against it and one abstention. The State Duma rejected a competing draft resolution on forwarding the appeal to the Foreign Ministry for consultations. This motion gained only 310 votes during the ranked voting.

VIENNA, February 15. /TASS/: Russia has officially notified the OSCE that it will not take part in the Ukraine-requested consultations on the situation at the Ukrainian border, since it is not conducting any extraordinary military activities, Konstantin Gavrilov, who leads the Russian delegation to the Vienna talks on military security and arms control, told TASS on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, February 15. /TASS/: Russia cannot turn a blind eye on the fact that the United States and NATO are interpreting the principle of indivisible security "quite freely and for their own benefit," Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday after talks with visiting German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"Russia cannot turn a blind eye on how the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance are interpreting, quite freely and for their own benefit, the key principles of equal and indivisible security, which are committed to paper in many European documents," he said.

PARIS, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Donald Trump has told French far-right presidential challenger Eric Zemmour, whose nationalist programme is shaping a divisive campaign race, to stay strong and true to his convictions, Zemmour said.

Zemmour's campaign team said the two had a 40-minute phone call late Monday. Like Trump, Zemmour has positioned himself as a political outsider, banking instead on his celebrity status and no-nonsense language.