Europe

PRAGUE (AP) — Budvar, the Czech brewer that has been in a long legal dispute with U.S. company Anheuser-Busch over use of the “Budweiser” brand, has registered a record output for the second straight pandemic year.

Budejovicky Budvar NP, a 126-year-old state-owned brewery, said its output rose 4.6% to 1.8 million hectoliters (47.8 million gallons) in 2021, according to preliminary results released on Thursday.

The brewer’s exports were up 11.3% last year, director Petr Dvorak said. The figures “surpassed our expectations,” Dvorak said.

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister Boris Johnson couldn’t escape his domestic woes during a trip to Belgium and Poland on Thursday aimed at increasing pressure on Russia over its military buildup near Ukraine.

Johnson was trying to show NATO’s resolve in response to Russia massing troops near its neighbor’s borders. But he faced questions about a police investigation into lockdown-breaching government parties that has shaken his grip on power.

MOSCOW (AP) — Britain’s top diplomat urged Russia on Thursday to defuse tensions over Ukraine and take the path of diplomacy even as thousands of Russian troops engaged in sweeping maneuvers in Belarus as part of a military buildup near Ukraine that has fueled Western fears of an invasion.

U.K. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss again warned Russia that attacking its neighbor would “have massive consequences and carry severe costs,” urging Moscow to abide by its international agreements that commit it to respecting Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.

MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/: UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss arrived in Moscow Wednesday, the UK embassy in Moscow said on Twitter.

"[Secretary Liz Truss] has arrived in Moscow for a meeting with Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergey Lavrov to discuss the situation around Ukraine," the embassy tweeted.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that the sides will discuss European security and legally binding long-term security guarantees during the February 10 talks.

MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/: American diplomats are leaving Russia in accordance with Moscow's reciprocal demands, with the reduction of embassy staff continuing due to Washington's actions, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told journalists on Wednesday.

"The American side follows our instructions. Unfortunately, the process of reducing the number of employees on both sides continues. This is not our choice, but people from the American embassy are leaving following those demands that we presented," he said.

MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/: Tensions in Ukraine will remain in place until Kiev starts talks with the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, Russian envoy to the UN, Vasily Nebenzya, said on Rossiya 24 television.

"Until our partners in Kiev come to the conclusion that dialogue with Donbass is the only way to resolve the conflict in Ukraine, of course, the situation will remain as it is," he said.

The envoy insisted that in order to resolve the Ukrainian conflict, Kiev must implement the full range of measures set forth in the Minsk agreements.

MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/: Russian officials for various reasons won’t attend the Munich Security Conference that’s taking place on February 18-20, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a news conference on Wednesday.

"As far as the Russian Foreign Ministry is aware, Russian officials for various reasons won’t attend the Munich Security Conference on security policy that’s taking place on February 18-20 this year," she said.

MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/: Washington's statements make it clear that the United States wants the Minsk Agreements to be revised even though it may undermine the peace process in Ukraine, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said at a briefing on Wednesday.

She pointed to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's remark that the implementation of the Minsk Agreements required "the appropriate sequencing."

LONDON, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Britain wants to see enough progress in talks with the European Union over the Northern Irish protocol in the next 10 days to demonstrate to unionists in the province that things are moving in the right direction after they pulled out of government.

Northern Ireland's first minister Paul Givan last week resigned in protest at the post-Brexit trade rules, potentially complicating talks between the EU and Britain to rework a politically divisive protocol that was agreed by London as part of its exit from the EU. 

PARIS, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Salah Abdeslam, the main surviving suspect in an Islamist rampage that killed 130 people in attacks across Paris in 2015, on Wednesday told a court that he had pledged allegiance to Islamic State but had never killed or wounded anyone.

Dressed in a crisp white shirt and with two armed police standing close behind him, Abdeslam told the court that the militant group had carried out the coordinated assaults to force an end to France's military forays in Iraq and Syria.