France

Putin and Obama "meet briefly, informally"

NORMANDY -- U.S. President Barack Obama and his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin on Friday met briefly on the sidelines of D-Day anniversary celebrations in France.

This was announced by the office of French President Francois Hollande.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukraine's president-elect Petro Poroshenko discussed a ceasefire and other possible steps to de-escalate the crisis between their countries in a brief but potentially significant meeting in France on Friday, French officials said.
      

German Chancellor Angela Merkel met Russian President Vladimir Putin for the first time since the Ukraine crisis began in late 2013.

Two Mistral assault ships are to be sold to Russia, France's Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius announced.

The decision comes amid tensions between Moscow and the West over the Ukraine crisis.

Fabius wrote on Twitter that the contracts were agreed in 2011 and were to be executed as they would create many jobs in his country, as the BBC reported.

The world marks the 70th anniversary of D-Day, the largest landing of troops by sea in history.

On June 6, 1944, around 160,000 Allied troops landed on the French coast of Normandy – in an operation to defeat the Nazi German army and liberate Europe. Around 3,000 of them would lose their lives on this day, while another 9,000 were wounded or missing.

World leaders gather June 6 to mark 70 years since the historic D-Day invasion of France that hastened the end of World War II, against a backdrop of intense diplomacy over the Ukraine crisis.

Seventy years ago, 156,000 Allied soldiers began their battle for a beachhead on the coast of Normandy, setting off a sequence of events which, along with the advance of Soviet forces in the east, would result in the defeat of German forces which occupied Europe from France to Greece. June 6, 1944, is one of the most important days in the history of our blood-soaked continent.

Turkey has been elected to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) intergovernmental committee for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu announced on June 4.

BELGRADE - The second regional seminar on the protection of cultural property in southeastern Europe began at the atrium of the National Museum in Belgrade on Thursday, and it brought together about 50 cultural heritage protection experts.

West threatens Russia with more sanctions

BRUSSELS -- Leaders of the seven most developed countries have warned Russia they are ready for new sanctions if there is no progress in resolving the Ukrainian crisis.