SERGEI SKRIPAL

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has defended meeting a Russian oligarch with a KGB past.

A Russian court has sentenced a top opposition figure to four years in prison, the latest move in the Kremlin’s crackdown on opposition activists, independent media and rights groups.

Ukraine says it is investigating a claim that a poisonous substance was dropped on the besieged city of Mariupol.

A U.S. official says Russia has asked China for military equipment to use in its invasion of Ukraine.

President Joe Biden’s national security adviser has warned a top Chinese official about China’s support for Russia in the Ukrainian invasion — even as the Kremlin denies anew that it has requested Chinese military equipment.

The United States has accused Russia of using a U.N. Security Council meeting for “spreading disinformation” as part of a potential false-flag operation by Moscow for the use of chemical or biological agents in Ukraine.

The U_N_ Security Council will meet Friday at Russia’s request to discuss what Moscow claims are “the military biological activities of the U_S_ on the territory of Ukraine.”.

President Joe Biden is expected to announce Friday that the U.S., along with the European Union and the Group of Seven countries, will move to revoke “most favored nation” trade status for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.

The Biden administration is warning that Russia might seek to use chemical or biological weapons in Ukraine as the White House rejected Russian claims of illegal chemical weapons development in the country it has invaded.

Several issues remain a day after Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich handed over the “stewardship and care” of the Premier League club to its charitable foundation trustees, declaring he always had “the club’s best interest at heart.”.

Even if a Russian invasion of Ukraine doesn’t happen in the next few days, the crisis is reaching a critical inflection point.

The U.K. recorded the highest number of confirmed new COVID-19 infections Wednesday since the pandemic began, and England’s chief medical officer warned the situation is likely to get worse as the omicron variant drives a new wave of illness during the Christmas holidays.

The head of Britain’s foreign intelligence agency saiys China, Russia and Iran pose three of the biggest threats facing the U.K. in a fast-changing, unstable world.

British police say they are charging a third Russian suspect in the 2018 nerve agent attack on a former Russian agent in England.

Russia has refused to renew a visa for a BBC journalist in Moscow — an effective expulsion amid simmering tensions with Britain.

The Czech Foreign Ministry has summoned Russia’s ambassador to Prague to request full compensation for damages from a huge ammunition depot explosion allegedly caused by Russian spies.

Thousands of Czechs have rallied in the capital against President Milos Zeman, accusing him of treason for his pro-Russian stance over the alleged participation of Russian spies in a huge 2014 ammunition explosion.

The Czech Republic has ordered 63 more Russian diplomats to leave the country.

The Czech Republic has demanded that Russia should allow its expelled diplomats to return to Moscow, threatening that otherwise more Russian diplomats would be asked to leave Prague.

The Czech Republic’s prime minister and prosecutor general say the two Russian military agents believed to be behind a massive depot explosion in 2014 likely targeted the ammunition, not their country.

FILE - In this March 10, 2011, file photo, Vice President of the United States Joe Biden, left, shakes hands with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Moscow, Russia. Putin wont congratulate President-elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the U.S. election are resolved and the result is official, the Kremlin announced Monday, Nov. 9, 2020. (AP Photo/Alexander Zemlianichenko, File)MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t congratulate President-elect Joe Biden until legal challenges to the U.S. election are resolved and the result is official, the Kremlin announced Monday. And Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador also said he would wait to comment until the legal challenges were resolved. Kosachev also suggested that Biden’s election would largely eliminate complaints about Russian election interference, thereby smoothing the way for armaments agreements.

Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking at the annual meeting of the Valdai Discussion Club via video conference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Thursday, Oct. 22, 2020. (Alexei Druzhinin, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)MOSCOW – Russian President Vladimir Putin rejected accusations of the Kremlin's involvement in the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, saying Thursday that he personally allowed his political foe to be flown to Germany for treatment. Navalny asserted that his poisoning only could have been ordered by spymasters who wouldn’t have made such decisions without Putin’s personal involvement. Making his first public comments on Navalny's poisoning, Putin said he had asked Russian prosecutors to allow Navalny to be flown to Germany from Siberia, where he first was hospitalized. “If authorities wanted to poison (him), they would hardly have allowed him to be sent to Germany for treatment,” Putin said during a video call with international foreign policy experts.

A poster showing six wanted Russian military intelligence officers is displayed before a news conference at the Department of Justice, Monday, Oct. 19, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Andrew Harnik, pool)WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced charges against Russian intelligence officers in cyberattacks that targeted a French presidential election, the Winter Olympics in South Korea and American businesses. The indictment is the most recent in a series of Justice Department prosecutions of Russian hackers, often working on behalf of the government. One of the six charged in the case announced Monday was among the Russian military intelligence officers charged with hacking in special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference. The involvement of bots raised questions about the possible involvement of Vladimir Putin and the Russian government.

The German hospital treating Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny for poisoning says his condition improved enough for him to be released from the facility. Peskov charged that there was information that “specialists” from the CIA were working with Navalny “these days” and giving him instructions. “If the authorities, on behalf of which Peskov speaks, have evidence of the nonsense he is talking about, then it's a matter of Russia’s state security, and I demand that this evidence be published," Navalny said in his blog. Navalny told Der Spiegel that when he first fell ill on the plane he was taking from Siberia to Moscow, he was sure he was dying as he collapsed to the floor. Germany has noted that Russian doctors have their own samples from Navalny since he was in their care for 48 hours.

Navalny later was flown to Germany, where he was kept in an induced coma for more than two weeks as he was treated with an antidote at Berlin's Charite hospital. “Two weeks later, a German laboratory found a trace of Novichok on a bottle from the Tomsk hotel room,” they said. Alburov alleged that Navalny probably was poisoned in the hotel, adding that its management had refused to show them recordings from surveillance cameras. He said police in Tomsk later seized computer servers containing the recordings. The Kremlin has said that Russian doctors who treated him in Omsk found no sign that Navalny was poisoned.

FILE - In this July 20, 2019, file photo, Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny gestures while speaking to a crowd during a political protest in Moscow, Russia. Berlins Justice Ministry has approved a request from Moscow for legal assistance in the investigation of the poisoning of opposition leader Alexei Navalny, and has tasked state prosecutors with working with Russian authorities. Navalny, the most visible opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Germany two days after falling ill on Aug. 20 on a domestic flight in Russia. The move to task Berlin prosecutors to work with Russian investigators came a week after Russia's request for assistance was received by the Berlin state Justice Ministry. Separately, Seibert denied reports that Germany had received a Russian request for permission to send investigators to interview Navalny.

In this photo released by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, center, speaks at a meeting of Foreign Ministers of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, Commonwealth of Independent States and Collective Security Treaty Organization Member States in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020. (Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service via AP)MOSCOW Russias top diplomat on Thursday accused the West of leveling accusations of poisoning top Kremlin critic Alexei Navalny without providing evidence, staunchly denying any official involvement. Navalny, the most visible opponent of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Germany two days after falling ill on Aug. 20 on a domestic flight in Russia. Germanys Defense Ministry has said the data about Navalny had been provided to the Hague-based Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Putin's spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said Thursday that Russia is still unaware whether Germany has handed over any information to the OPCW.

German Ambassador to Russia Geza Andreas von Geyr leaves the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Sept. 9, 2020, where he was invited to discuss the situation regarding Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny. Navalny, a high-profile critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Germany last month after falling ill on an airplane flight in Russia. German chemical weapons experts say tests showed the 44-year-old was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent. Navalny, a fierce, high-profile critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, was flown to Germany last month after falling ill on Aug. 20 on a domestic flight in Russia. On Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry invited German Ambassador Geza Andreas von Geyr to protest what it called unfounded accusations and ultimatums" against Russia put forward by the German government.

FILE - In this Sunday, Sept. 29, 2019 file photo Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny speaks during a rally to support political prisoners in Moscow, Russia. The German hospital treating Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny says he has been taking out of an induced coma and is responsive. German chemical weapons experts say tests showed the 44-year-old was poisoned with a Soviet-era nerve agent. Engel and McCaul urged Trump to enact additional sanctions on Russia if its determined that chemical weapons were used against Navalny. Russia has denied that the Kremlin was involved in poisoning Navalny and accused Germany of failing to provide evidence about the poisoning that it requested in late August.

BERLIN Germany on Sunday increased pressure on Russia over the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny, warning that a lack of support by Moscow in the investigation could force Germany to rethink the fate of a German-Russian gas pipeline project. The Nord Stream 2 project would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic Sea when completed, bypassing Ukraine. Merkel has previously rejected the idea that the Navalny case should be linked to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. In early August, three Republican senators threatened sanctions against an operator of a Baltic Sea port located in Merkels parliamentary constituency over its part in Nord Stream 2. The U.S. argues the project will endanger European security by making Germany overly dependent on Russian gas.

FILE - In this Friday, June 26, 2020 file photo, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg speaks during a media conference at NATO headquarters in Brussels. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool, File)BRUSSELS NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday condemned the appalling assassination attempt on Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and called on Moscow to answer questions about the poisoning to international investigators. British authorities previously identified the Soviet-era Novichok as the poison used on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in England in 2018. There is proof beyond doubt that Mr. Navalny was poisoned using a military-grade nerve agent from the Novichok group. Stoltenberg said Moscow must cooperate with the international chemical weapons organization in an impartial, international investigation and provide information about its Novichok program.

(AP Photo/Markus Schreiber, Pool)BERLIN German Chancellor Angela Merkel faced pressure on Thursday to use a joint German-Russian pipeline project as leverage in getting Russia to provide answers about the poisoning of the Kremlin's most determined critic. The opposition Green party said that should include an end to the Nord Stream 2 pipeline project, which would deliver Russian gas directly to Germany under the Baltic when completed. Despite Merkel's strong reaction to the news, it was not clear whether she would consider trying to put an end to the pipeline project. Nord Stream 2 is also opposed by Ukraine and Poland, which will be bypassed by the pipeline under the Baltic sea, as well as some other European nations. Despite the calls from some to bring Nord Stream 2 into the Navalny case, others have spoken against such a move.

FILE - In this file photo taken on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, Russian opposition activist Alexei Navalny takes part in a march in memory of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov in Moscow, Russia. The German hospital treating Russian dissident Alexei Navalny says tests indicate that he was poisoned. But Merkel rejected the idea that the Navalny case should be linked to the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline being built under the Baltic Sea. Our opinion is that Nord Stream 2 should be completed," she said, adding: I don't think it is appropriate to link this business-operated project with the Navalny question." The U.S. argues the project will endanger European security by making Germany overly dependent on Russian gas.

MOSCOW The Kremlin on Tuesday rejected accusations of involvement in an alleged attack on Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny who is in a coma in a German hospital, a day after doctors said tests indicated that he was poisoned. The politician's allies say the Kremlin is behind the illness of its most prominent critic, with some demanding an investigation into whether Russian President Vladimir Putin was involved. These accusations absolutely cannot be true and are rather an empty noise, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Tuesday. Chancellor Angela Merkel personally offered Germany's help in treating Navalny and, along with other European officials, has called for a full Russian investigation. Charit said the specific substance to which Navalny was exposed isn't yet known but that a further series of comprehensive tests had been started.

MOSCOW When Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny collapsed in an airplane bathroom Thursday, his supporters immediately suspected poisoning. If true, he wouldnt be the first prominent, outspoken Russian to be the target of toxic attack. A British inquiry found that Russian agents had killed Litvinenko, probably with President Vladimir Putin's approval. At the time of Litvinenkos poisoning, he had been investigating the killing of Russian journalist Anna Politkovskaya three weeks earlier. PYOTR VERZILOVVerzilov, a member of Russian protest group Pussy Riot, ended up in an intensive care unit after a suspected poisoning in 2018 and had to be flown to Berlin for treatment.