UKRAINE

With Ukraine and Turkey both at odds with Moscow, a new military relationship has begun that could extend beyond tanks to artillery and personnel carriers.

"[It] is Cossacks who are on the front lines, protecting public order," said one of the group's leaders.

Tensions in the region -- especially between Turkey and Russia -- have reached a new high in recent weeks.

Vladimir Putin will make his annual speech Thursday at a moment of weak economic performance and conflicts in Ukraine and Syria.

Russian authorities said a power bridge would restore some electricity to Crimea by Dec. 20 as Ukrainian activists vow to completely isolate the annexed territory.

Accusations between Turkey and Russia have escalated following the Nov. 24 downing of a Russian jet by Ankara.

Moscow has threatened retaliatory measures, including cancelling military and technical cooperation with Montenegro, if the small Balkan nation accepts the NATO invitation.

Russia said Tuesday it would construct 392 buildings on the disputed islands of Iturup and Kunashir, which Japan labels as part of its Northern Territories.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called any NATO expansion a "provocation," while the alliance says its latest move is not about that country.

A $31 billion trade relationship is about to change as Moscow responds to Turkey's strike against a Russian warplane.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau met on the sidelines of the Paris climate change talks with Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko on Sunday.

Russia imports 20 percent of its vegetables from Turkey, and the move raises fears of price increases and market instability. Other countries hope to step in and fill the void.

Leaders of the European Union met Turkish premier Ahmet Davutoglu in Brussels on Sunday to finalize an agreement .

The Kremlin said the moment for an anti-ISIS coalition wasn't right as protesters delivered a coffin with a likeness of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to Turkey's embassy in Moscow.

An aide said the Kremlin had received a request from Ankara regarding a possible meeting between the two leaders at a climate conference in Paris.

Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev ordered his government to draw up measures that would include freezing some joint investment projects and restricting food imports from Turkey.

A senior European diplomat told Reuters this week that Western leaders at the G20 in Antalya agreed on the margins of the meeting to extend the sanctions.

In the wake of Turkish forces downing a Russian warplane, Russia's tourism agency has called for travel packages to Turkey to be suspended.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov also said his country does not have any "intention to go to war with Turkey."

Ukraine and Russia have been involved in a dispute over gas deliveries since last year, following Crimea’s annexation by Moscow.

Russia’s conflicts in eastern Ukraine and Syria were already proving unsustainable. Now a downed warplane at the Syrian-Turkish border makes things even more complicated.