Russia announced it will recognise separatist polls in Ukraine next weekend, sparking an angry reaction from Washington and Kiev's newly elected pro-Western leaders.
I want to emphasize that when the USA and other nations were drafting sanctions, the sanctions were to be pin-pointed to be targeted at certain figures and companies, he said.
Kazakh singer Diana Sharapova has joined the team of Russian popular singer Leonid Agutin at Golos, a Russian version of internationally renowned The Voice.
Total named Patrick Pouyanne, currently head of refining and chemicals, as its new chief executive while former CEO Thierry Desmarest was appointed chairman.
The driver of the snowplough that blocked the take-off of a private plane at a Moscow airport, said he drove onto the runway after losing his bearings.
Russian investigators accused senior airport officials of criminal negligence over a plane crash at a Moscow airport that killed the head of French oil giant Total.
Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Total CEO Christophe de Margerie, who died in a plane accident at a Moscow airport, as a "true friend of our country."
Dutch electronics giant Philips posted a 103-million-euro net loss on third-quarter earnings, blaming a patent lawsuit and ever-slowing markets in China and Russia.
As Ukraine gears up to vote in a snap parliamentary election after a year of dramatic upheaval, the Communist Party is finding its power base has collapsed.