Donald Tusk
European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday he was sure that EU leaders will roll over sanctions on Russia at a summit he will chair in two weeks due to Moscow's action against Ukraine's navy in the Sea of Azov.
Europe is united in our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. This is why I am sure that the EU will roll over the sanctions against Russia in December.
“Europe is united in our support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Donald Tusk said in a Twitter post.
Tusk was speaking to reporters during a G20 meeting in Buenos Aires.
With ice breaking up on the top of the world, Russia on Friday declared itself a nautical gatekeeper.Moscow will restrict the passage of foreign warships along the country’s increasingly important Northeast Passage, said the Russian Defense Ministry, "to eliminate the legal vacuum in the use of the northern sea route."Starting in 2019, the passage of the foreign navies will be allowed only upon preliminary notification, Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, said at a conference in Moscow.The Northeast Passage, the shortest sea route between Europe and Eastern Asia, is currently too ice bound for passage much of the year, but with global warming, that could change, making the route more attractive for navies and commerce alike.Jailed Ukrainian sailors moved to MoscowRussian central banker retires, tied to suspected agent held by USRussia thinks Trump cancelled Putin meeting for domestic reasons
Russia set to limit warships crossing Northeast Passage
No deal or no Brexit if UK parliament rejects deal
Britain's choice would be to leave the European Union without a deal or abandon Brexit altogether if its parliament rejects an agreement between the EU and Prime Minister Theresa May, European Council President Donald Tusk said on Friday.
"A few days before the vote in the House of Commons, it is becoming more and more clear that this deal is the best possible -- in fact, the only possible one," Tusk said, ruling out any renegotiation by the EU if the British parliament votes down last Sunday's deal on Dec. 11.
"If this deal is rejected in the Commons, we are left with ... an alternative: no deal or no Brexit at all. I want to reassure you that the EU is prepared for every scenario," he said told Reuters during the G20 meeting in Argentina.
Tusk will chair an EU summit two days after the British parliament votes on a deal that May has also said is the best London can get. Britain is due to leave the EU on March 29, although some campaigners hope the withdrawal can be stopped.
The Russian central bank said on Friday that Deputy Governor Alexander Torshin, who is on a U.S. sanctions blacklist and has been tied to an investigation into a suspected Russian agent operating in Washington, is leaving the bank to retire.The U.S. Justice Department has said Maria Butina, accused of operating as a Russian agent, was working at the direction of an unnamed senior official at the Russian central bank.A person familiar with the matter told Reuters that Butina worked as an assistant for Torshin. Butina's lawyers have identified Torshin as the person with whom she was accused of working.Torshin has not replied to requests for comment on the U.S. investigation. The Russian central bank declined additional comments when contacted by Reuters on Friday.Torshin, who turned 65 on Tuesday, was hit by U.S. sanctions in April along with a number of Russian businessmen and government officials seen as close to President Vladimir Putin.The U.S. Treasury Department said the measures were a response to what is described as Russia's malign activity, including its actions in Ukraine, its support of President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war and subverting Western democracies.Butina is accused of working with a Russian official and two unidentified U.S. citizens to try to infiltrate a U.S. gun-rights organisation and influence American foreign policy toward Russia. Moscow has called the case against Butina fabricated and demanded her release. 
Russian central banker retires, tied to suspected agent held by US