Europe

Michael McFaul visited the Russian foreign ministry for 30 minutes and then left without commenting to the press.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the incident could harm U.S.-Russian relations as the countries cooperate on a Syrian peace summit.  

Russian authorities say the country's Federal Security Service has detained a CIA agent who had been trying to recruit a Russian security official, according to multiple reports.

British leaders are continuing to push for more "flexibility" in a European Union ban on arming the Syrian opposition, looking to open the door to direct weapons sales to rebel forces. 

President Obama and United Kingdom Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday committed to completing an ambitious, comprehensive trade agreement that they hope will create a wave of global economic prosperity.

Appearing together at a joint press conference, Obama and Cameron vowed to pursue a deal without preconditions.

"That means everything is on the table, even the difficult issues, and no exceptions," Cameron said after meeting with Obama at the White House.

"It's worth the effort."

The formal trade talks are expected to begin by July, and Cameron said "there's a real chance now to get the process launched in time" for the Group of 8 summit that is being held next month in Northern Ireland

British Prime Minister David Cameron wants a global standard under which petroleum and mining companies will report their payments to governments, calling it a way to curb corruption in resource-rich nations.

Cameron, who is meeting with President Obama at the White House on Monday, called for the Group of Eight leading industrial nations to work on the effort at its June gathering in Ireland.

The prime minister, in a broader Wall Street Journal column backing free trade, said greater “transparency” must accompany more open global markets.

“[W]e must lift the veil of secrecy that too often lets corrupt corporations and officials in some countries run rings around the law. The G8 must move toward a global common standard for resource-extracting companies to report all payments to governments, and in turn for governments to report those revenues,” Cameron writes.

European Union officials on Wednesday said a trade agreement between the U.S. and EU must be comprehensive and ambitious to secure support on both sides of the Atlantic.

Read more from The Hill. 

European Union officials said a trade agreement must be comprehensive and ambitious to secure support on both sides of the Atlantic.

Adm. James Stavridis, NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Europe, and chief of U.S. European Command, has been appointed a dean at Tufts University.

Stavridis was named dean of the university’s Fletcher School, a graduate school for international affairs, the university announced Monday.

Stavridis will begin at Tufts after he retires from the Navy this summer.

A bipartisan group of 14 senators told the Obama administration that it should fight a recent decision by the European Commission (EC) to impose an anti-dumping duty on U.S. ethanol exports.

The senators, led by John Thune (R-S.D.) and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), wrote a letter to acting U.S. Trade Representative Demetrios Marantis and acting Commerce Secretary Rebecca Blank on Tuesday urging them to challenge the EC’s decision at the World Trade Organization.