President Trump and President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia are expected to speak on Tuesday as Washington pushes for a cease-fire in Ukraine. Mr. Trump said the topics would include power plants and “dividing up” Ukrainian assets. The call will be the first known conversation between the two leaders since …
Five weeks ago, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, delivered a routine speech blasting the “hegemonic, egoistic” United States at the helm of the “collective West.” The worldview of the 74-year-old veteran diplomat has since undergone some head-spinning changes. In an interview on Russian state television on Sunday, Mr. Lavrov …
Only a few years ago, Washington was calling Saudi Arabia a “pariah” over its headline-making human rights violations. Western business leaders canceled investments in the kingdom. Celebrities and sports stars took flack for doing events there. With its oil and its regional clout, however, Saudi Arabia proved too useful for …