More from Reuters on Merkel's statement on Russia sanctions:
Germany's Merkel rules out lifting economic sanctions on Russia
BERLIN, Nov 5 (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Wednesday there was no way Europe would give Russia any relief from economic sanctions imposed over the Ukraine crisis and separatist leaders appointed after Sunday's election could also be added to sanction lists.
"There is no possibility of alleviating or lifting sanctions that have been imposed," she said, urging respect for the Minsk ceasefire agreement reached in September, which Berlin says was violated by the elections in rebel-held eastern Ukraine.
"We should look once again at the list of people who now have positions of responsibility in eastern Ukraine thanks to those illegitimate elections," she said. "Apart from that, we should maintain the sanctions that we have."
More from RFE/RL's news desk:
A news report says Russia has informed the United States it will not attend the next in a series of international nuclear security summits that have been a prominent feature of President Barack Obama's foreign policy.
The Associated Press on November 3 reported that Russia was absent from an initial planning session in Washington for the 2016 Nuclear Security Summit.
On November 4, the AP quoted two unnamed diplomats as saying the boycott applied to the 2016 summit itself as well.
The sources cited what they said was a diplomatic note from Russia to the United States and other nations planning to participate.
Russia attended all three previous summits, in 2010, 2012, and 2014.
But one of the diplomats said Moscow already had reservations while attending this year's meeting in March in The Hague.
He said the "changed political atmosphere" influenced the Kremlin's decision to stay away.
Ties are badly strained over Russia's annexation of Crimea in March and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
A Kremlin spokesman declined to comment.
From RFE/RL's news desk:
Russia has test-fired a Sineva intercontinental ballistic missile from a submarine in the Barents Sea as part of tests on the reliability of the navy's strategic forces.
The Russian Defense Ministry said the liquid-fueled missile, capable of carrying nuclear warheads, was fired by the submarine "Tula" and targeted a testing range in the Kamchatka region on the Pacific Ocean.
The Sineva, which has a range of about 12,000 kilometers, became operable in 2007 as part of Moscow's efforts to shore up Russia's nuclear deterrent.
This test-firing was the second ICBM launch from a Russian nuclear submarine in the past week.
President Vladimir Putin has underlined the importance of the nuclear deterrent during Moscow's standoff with the West over the Ukraine crisis.
Flash from Reuters:
GERMANY'S MERKEL SAYS SEES NO POSSIBILITY OF LIFTING ECONOMIC SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA OVER UKRAINE
From AFP:
New European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker said Wednesday he would visit Kiev on his first trip outside the European Union, amid the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.
"I will be going to the Ukraine, I don't yet know when," Juncker told a press conference, adding he promised his "first bilateral outside the EU will be in Kiev."