Europe

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Russia has deployed MiG-31K fighter jets with hypersonic Kinzhal missiles and long-range Tupolev Tu-22M strategic bombers to its air base in Syria for naval exercises, Interfax news agency reported on Tuesday, citing the defence ministry.

The aircraft dispatched to Russia's Hmeimim air base will take part in exercises in the eastern Mediterranean, part of a surge of Russian military activity amid a standoff with the West over Ukraine and security in Europe.

LONDON, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Russian mercenaries with ties to Moscow's spies have increased their presence in Ukraine in recent weeks, stoking fears among some NATO members that Russia could try to engineer a pretext for an invasion, three senior Western security sources said.

They said their concerns had strengthened in recent weeks that a Russian incursion into Ukraine could be preceded by an information war, and cyber attacks on Ukraine's critical infrastructure such as electricity and gas networks.

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Britain sees signs of a diplomatic opening with Russia over Ukraine, but the latest intelligence is still not encouraging, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Tuesday.

Russia said some of its military units were returning to their bases after exercises near Ukraine, following days of U.S. and British warnings that Moscow might invade its neighbour at any time.

BERLIN, Feb 15 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz heads to Moscow on Tuesday to meet President Vladimir Putin in a high stakes mission to avert war, with Russia's largest trading partner in Europe warning of far-reaching sanctions if it attacks Ukraine.

Scholz's one-day trip, after visiting Kyiv on Monday, is part of frantic Western diplomacy to try to stop a potential attack as more than 100,000 Russian troops mass on Ukraine's borders.

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday said Russia was prepared to continue dialogue on missiles and other security issues with the West, speaking in Moscow with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

Tensions in Europe have run high in recent weeks on Western fears Russia may invade neighbouring Ukraine, which Moscow denied is its intention. Russia said on Tuesday some of its troops were returning to base after exercises near Ukraine

MOSCOW, Feb 15 (Reuters) - President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday that Russia does not want a war in Europe, but described the situation in east Ukraine's breakaway regions as "genocide" and called for the conflict there to be resolved through the Minsk peace progress.

At a joint news conference after talks with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Putin said Russia had decided to partially withdraw troops from near Ukraine and saw some room for further discussion with the West on Moscow's security demands.

MOSCOW, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) -- Part of the armed forces participating in joint drills with Belarus will be pulled back, the Russian Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

When the combat training activities are completed, the Russian troops, as always, will return to their locations of permanent deployment, the ministry's spokesman Igor Konashenkov said.

The units of the Southern and Western Military Districts that have already completed their tasks are packing up and will leave for their garrisons on Tuesday, he added.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece’s government is seeking parliamentary approval Tuesday for a 3 billion euro ($3.4 billion) agreement for three new French-made frigates that defense officials say are vital for addressing ongoing tensions with neighboring Turkey.

Lawmakers are also debating whether to add six new Rafale fighter jets to an existing order for 18 planes ‒ six of them newly built and 12 that were previously in service in the French air force.

BERLIN (AP) — Diplomatic efforts to head off what U.S. officials have warned could be an imminent Russian attack on Ukraine entered a new round on Monday. Russia’s top diplomat advised President Vladimir Putin to continue talks and Germany’s chancellor met the Ukrainian president.

Nonetheless the U.S. announced it is closing its embassy in Ukraine and moving all remaining staffers there to a city near the Polish border.

COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — The head of the World Health Organization’s Europe office said Tuesday that health officials are turning their attention to growing rates of COVID-19 infection in Eastern Europe, where six countries — including Russia and Ukraine — have seen a doubling in case counts over the last two weeks.

Dr. Hans Kluge said the 53-country region, which stretches to former Soviet republics into central Asia, has now tallied more than 165 million confirmed coronavirus cases and 1.8 million deaths linked to the pandemic — including 25,000 in the last week alone.