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David R. Sands

David R. Sands

dsands@washingtontimes.com

David R. Sands covered numerous beats, including international trade, banking, politics and Capitol Hill, and spent eight years on the foreign desk as senior diplomatic correspondent. He has authored The Times' weekly chess column since 1993.

Articles by David R. Sands

In this file photo, former Vice President Mike Pence speaks at the Florida chapter of the Federalist Society's annual meeting at Disney's Yacht Club resort in Walt Disney World on Friday, Feb. 4, 2022, in Orlando, Fla. Mr. Pence used a private address to a group of Republican Party donors on March 4, 2022, to challenge those in the GOP who have dissented from the sharp global criticism of Mr. Putin for provoking the war. (Stephen M. Dowell/Orlando Sentinel via AP) ** FILE **

Pence escalates break with Trump with attack on Putin praise

Former Vice President Mike Pence is broadening the breach with his former boss, taking a barely veiled shot at former President Donald Trump for offering mixed praise for Russian leader Vladimir Putin even as the Kremlin's 10-day invasion of Ukraine grinds on.

March 5, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin sits in the cockpit of an airplane simulator as he visits to Aeroflot Aviation School outside Moscow, Russia, Saturday, March 5, 2022. (Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin warns on NATO no-fly zone as Zelenskyy addresses U.S. senators

Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a stark warning against a NATO "no-fly zone" over the skies of Ukraine as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a virtual meeting of U.S. lawmakers Saturday to plead for a more aggressive Western response to Russia's 10-day-old invasion.

March 5, 2022
A refugee holding a small dog gives a sip of tea to a toddler after fleeing the conflict from neighboring Ukraine, as they sit in a bus at the Romanian-Ukrainian border, in Siret, Romania, Friday, March 4, 2022. The number of refugees who have fled Ukraine has now reached 1.2 million, the International Organization for Migration said Friday. This could become the "biggest refugee crisis this century," the U.N. has said, predicting that as many as 4 million people could leave. (AP Photo/Andreea Alexandru)

U.N.: Ukraine refugee flow may top 4 million

The number of Ukrainian citizens fleeing the fighting in their country may eventually top 4 million people, or nearly a 10th of the population, according to new estimates this week from the United Nations' top refugee agency.

March 4, 2022
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, left, speaks with European Council President Charles Michel as he arrives for an extraordinary EU foreign ministers meeting at the European Council building in Brussels, Friday, March 4, 2022. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken meets Friday with his counterparts from NATO and the European Union, as Russia's war on Ukraine entered its ninth day marked by the seizure of the strategic port city of Kherson and the shelling of Europe's largest nuclear power plant. (AP Photo/Olivier Matthys)

Stoltenberg nixes NATO ‘no-fly zone’ for Ukraine

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Friday firmly ruled out plans for the Western military alliance to enforce a "no-fly zone" over Ukraine, despite the pleas of the Kyiv government as it tries to hold back a massive invasion from neighboring Russia.

March 4, 2022
In this file photo, Sergey Karjakin, of Russia, reaches in to take a white piece from his opponent, Magnus Carlsen, of Norway, in Game 12 of the World Chess Championship, Monday, Nov. 28, 2016, in New York. U.S. chess grandmaster Hans Moke Niemann, the target of cheating allegations at the highest level of the game, has made a counter-move against his accusers, filing a $100 million-plus lawsuit accusing world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway, top U.S. grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura and one of the biggest online chess-playing services of "colluding to blacklist" him from competing. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan) ** FILE **

Russian chess grandmasters slam invasion of Ukraine in joint appeal to Putin

Nearly three dozen top Russian chess players, including a recent challenger for the world crown, a former women's world champion and a grandmaster who has won the Russian national title eight times, have issued an "official appeal" to President Vladimir Putin condemning the invasion of Ukraine and calling for the fighting to cease.

March 3, 2022
A boy holds Russian and Chinese flags before a welcoming ceremony for Russian President Vladimir Putin at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on June 25, 2016. Three weeks ago, on the eve of the Beijing Winter Olympics, the leaders of China and Russia declared that the friendship between their countries "has no limits." But that was before Russia's invasion of Ukraine, a gambit that will test just how far China is willing to go. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein, File)

China won’t join Western financial sanctions on Russia over Ukraine

China's communist government said Wednesday that it will not be joining a wide-ranging sanctions campaign by the U.S. and countries around the world against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, adding it opposes "unilateral" measures and doubts they would be effective.

March 2, 2022
Swiss Federal President Ignazio Cassis speaks during a press conference in Bern, Switzerland, Monday, Feb. 28, 2022. The Swiss president says Russias attack on Ukraine is unacceptable and Switzerland will adopt European Union sanctions, including asset freezes. (Peter Schneider/Keystone via AP)

Famously neutral Swiss sign on to European sanctions against Russia

Switzerland, which has long jealously guarded its neutral status in the face of past world crises, said Monday it will join European Union sanctions against Russia and top officials including President Vladimir Putin in the wake of last week's invasion of Ukraine.

February 28, 2022
A Russian armored personnel carrier burns amid damaged and abandoned light utility vehicles after fighting in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Sunday, Feb. 27, 2022. The city authorities said that Ukrainian forces engaged in fighting with Russian troops that entered the country's second-largest city on Sunday. (AP Photo/Marienko Andrew)

Pressured Putin hints at nukes but agrees to talks with Ukraine

Facing a wall of global opposition and unexpectedly fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces, Russian President Vladimir Putin played the nuclear card Sunday, ordering the country's vast nuclear arsenal be put on a "special combat readiness" status to persuade the U.S. and European nations not to come to Kyiv's aid.

February 27, 2022
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba speaks at the general assembly hall, Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, at United Nations Headquarters. Russian President Vladimir Putin has received no support from members of the U.N. Security Council for his actions to bring separatists in eastern Ukraine under Moscow's control. At an emergency meeting Monday night, the U.S. called Putin's moves a pretext for a further invasion. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)

Ukraine sees win as Russia agrees on peace talks

Russia and Ukraine have agreed to emergency talks on ways to resolve their five-day war, with Kyiv officials saying the Kremlin's agreement to talk is already a sign things aren't going as planned for Russian President Vladimir Putin.

February 27, 2022