“The EU is our largest partner... Nobody is going to shoot himself in the foot and reject cooperation with Europe, but everyone understands that it won’t be business as usual anymore.

“But we don’t need the kind of business we had. [That] was like ‘Russia must do this and must do that,' and we want to cooperate as equals,” he added.

"As for the concept behind to the use of coercive measures, the West is making clear it does not want to force Russia to change policy but wants to secure regime change."

"Now public figures in Western countries say there is a need to impose sanctions that will destroy the economy and cause public protests."

The US has decided to expand their military role in Afghanistan, enabling them to target Taliban fighters from 2015.

Under previous withdrawal plans, the 9,800 US soldiers remaining in the country, would only be training Afghan soldiers and fight remnants of Al Qaeda.

The troops will not go after the Taliban unless they "directly threaten" the US, an unnamed official told US media.

The Thai Justice Minister Paiboon Koomchaya said martial law will remain “indefinitely” as protests against the military’s rule increase.

General Paiboon told Reuters that martial law will remain "because the government and junta need it as the army's tool".

"We are not saying that martial law will stay in place for 50 years, no, this is not it. We just ask that it remain in place for now, indefinitely," he said, adding that the army "does not violate anyone's rights".

The Egyptian government is discussing the possibility of grating a pardon to two of the three Al Jazeera journalists detained in the country, said President Abdul Fattah al-Sisi in an interview with France 24.

"Let us say that this matter is being discussed to solve the issue," Sisi said.