Russia

In the largest buildup of troops in the region since the Cold War, the UK has said it will send Royal Air Force Typhoon jets to Romania for up to four months in 2017.

Defense Secretary Michael Fallon also confirmed that 800 personnel will be moved to Estonia, 150 more than originally planned.

"Backed by a rising defense budget, this deployment of air, land and sea forces shows that we will continue to play a leading role in NATO, supporting the defense and security of our allies from the north to the south of the alliance," Fallon said.

On Friday night, the Jester gained access to the Russian government ministry's website. And he left a message: Stop attacking Americans.

"Comrades! We interrupt regular scheduled Russian Foreign Affairs Website programming to bring you the following important message," he wrote. "Knock it off. You may be able to push around nations around you, but this is America. Nobody is impressed."

Alexander Yakovenko said the embassy was "shrinking" and questioned whether the UK wanted "an adequate Russian diplomatic presence".

He also criticised the prime minister and foreign secretary for giving what he said were "anti-Russian statements".

The Foreign Office said there was no policy to delay visas.

Mr Yakovenko said Russia did not have enough diplomatic staff in London because as people returned home or went on to other postings, visas for their replacements were not being issued.

Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the bombing had been halted early on Tuesday.

Russia had already announced an eight-hour pause between 08:00 (05:00 GMT) and 16:00 on Thursday.

Mr Shoigu urged rebels and civilians in the besieged eastern area of the city to use humanitarian corridors to leave.

Russian warplanes pounded the rebel-held areas of Aleppo shortly before announcing Tuesday's suspension, activists say.

Russia Ministry of Foreign Affairs Department of International Organisations Deputy Director, Mr. Dmitry Maksimychev said, “The Project is an important part of our effort to implement the Sustainable Development Goals, the SIDS Agenda and also the Russian Government’s agenda to strengthen our relations with Asia and Pacific countries.

As WikiLeaks continues to publish emails belonging to Clinton campaign chair John Podesta, US officials told CNN that there is growing evidence that Russia is using the organization as a delivery vehicle for the messages and other stolen information.

The methods of the disclosures "suggest Moscow is at least providing the information or is possibly directly responsible for the leaks," one US official said.

US-Russia relations have deteriorated sharply amid a barrage of accusations and disagreements, raising the stakes on issues ranging from the countries' competing military operations in Syria, disputes over Eastern European independence and escalating cyber breaches.

"This is a conflict, there should be no doubt," said Matthew Rojansky, director of the Kennan Institute at the Wilson Center, on the US-Russia confrontation.

Washington broke off all negotiations with Moscow nine days ago amid extreme tension over failure to secure a truce.

But Russia's Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov will now meet his US counterpart John Kerry and other key regional powers in Switzerland on Saturday.

The announcement comes after two days of renewed air strikes on Aleppo, killing at least 75 people.

The US State Department said Mr Kerry would discuss a "multilateral approach" to ending the crisis, "including a sustained cessation of violence and the resumption of humanitarian aid deliveries."

The response will be "proportional," press secretary Josh Earnest said, without elaborating. He said the actions would likely not be announced ahead of time and could never be made public.

Speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Earnest said a "range" of responses were on the table.

Last Friday's announcement was the first time the government has publicly blamed another country for hacking with the goal of influencing a US election.

President Vladimir Putin also said he and Recep Tayyip Erdogan had agreed on the need for aid to get to the northern Syrian city of Aleppo.

The two countries have signed a deal to construct two pipelines to send Russian gas under the Black Sea to Turkey.

Ties were strained after Turkey downed a Russian military jet last year.

But speaking at a joint news conference with Mr Putin, Mr Erdogan said he was confident that the normalisation of relations would take place rapidly.