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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

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses the United Nations Security Council, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Blinken defends U.S. info blitz predicting Russian military action

Secretary of State Antony Blinken launched a scathing attack Thursday on what he said were Russian preparations for a possibly imminent invasion of Ukraine, saying the Biden administration has issued a blitz of warnings in recent weeks about potential Russian provocations as a way to head off war.

February 17, 2022
Ukrainian troops patrolled the front line Monday while Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov advised President Vladimir Putin to keep negotiating with Western nations about Moscow's security demands. Meanwhile, the Biden administration was preparing for war. (Associated Press)

U.S. bangs the drum on Ukraine as Putin weighs options

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave one of the first signs on Monday that he is considering easing back from a massive military buildup around Ukraine, but the Biden administration remained highly skeptical and continued to warn that an invasion of Ukraine could be imminent.

February 14, 2022
Ukrainian servicemen check their equipment during an exercise in a Joint Forces Operation controlled area in the Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022. A peace agreement for the separatist conflict in eastern Ukraine that has never quite ended is back in the spotlight amid a Russian military buildup near the country's borders and rising tensions about whether Moscow will invade. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

State Department toughens warning on travel to Ukraine

The State Department on Thursday raised its threat level warning for Americans traveling to Ukraine and urged all American citizens in the country to leave, citing the potential for Russian military action against its neighbor as well as the continuing threat of COVID-19.

February 10, 2022
One of three Russian ships sails through the Dardanelles or Canakkale to cross the Bosphorus, Istanbul. on their way to the Black Sea, Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022. Three more Russian navy ships are sailing through Turkey Wednesday en route to join military drills in the Black Sea. Russia's Defense Ministry said six large landing ships were moving from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea where they will take part in the exercises already underway. (IHA Photo via AP)

Ukraine says Russian naval drills are choking off trade

Ukrainian officials said Russian naval drills off its Black Sea coast are disrupting trade and hurting the economy, even as Russian and Belarusian forces began 10 days of major military exercises close to Ukraine's northern border.

February 10, 2022
Bonin-Djuric after 17...Bg4.

A chess battle of the sexes and a history of the World (Open)

It's Gibraltar, so they clearly know how to rock on. The hugely popular annual chess festival on the little spot of Britain at the mouth of the Mediterranean was called off last year because of COVID-19, and tournament sponsors had to scramble again this year because the Caleta Hotel, the longtime venue for the event, has just closed for a three-year renovation.

February 8, 2022
A convoy of Russian armored vehicles moves along a highway in Crimea, Jan. 18, 2022. Russia has concentrated an estimated 100,000 troops with tanks and other heavy weapons near Ukraine in what the West fears could be a prelude to an invasion. (AP Photo, File)

Biden OKs more troops to Eastern Europe as replies to Russia leak

President Biden on Wednesday signed off on sending additional troops to reinforce NATO allies in eastern Europe amid a mounting crisis with Russia over Ukraine and security policy across the continent. The U.S. troops could begin deploying within days, U.S. officials said.

February 2, 2022
Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while speaking to the media during a joint news conference with Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban following their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Tuesday, Feb. 1, 2022. Putin says the U.S. and its allies have ignored Russia's top security demands. In his first comments on the standoff with the West over Ukraine in more than a month, Putin said Tuesday that the Kremlin is still studying the U.S. and NATO's response to the Russian security demands received last week. (Yuri Kochetkov/Pool Photo via AP)

Peeved Putin complains West ‘ignored’ demands as Blinken, Lavrov confer

Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the U.S. and its allies of dismissing the Kremlin's "fundamental concerns" about the military standoff across Eastern Europe, while Ukraine announced plans Tuesday to dramatically expand the size of its armed forces, adding fresh uncertainty to the slow-burning crisis.

February 1, 2022
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, shares a word with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken on the occasion of their meeting at the Bankova, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, Pool)

Blinken, Russia’s Lavrov talk on Ukraine crisis after bitter U.N. exchanges

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Russian counterpart Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held a direct phone conversation Tuesday, a day after U.S. and Russian diplomats traded broadsides at a charged U.N. Security Council meeting over who was responsible for the gathering crisis in Ukraine.

February 1, 2022
People watch a TV showing a file image of North Korea's missile launch during a news program at the Seoul Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022. North Korea on Sunday fired what appeared to be the most powerful missile it has tested since U.S. President Joe Biden took office, as it revives its old playbook in brinkmanship to wrest concessions from Washington and neighbors amid a prolonged stalemate in diplomacy. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Latest North Korean missile shot raises fears of a breakout

Kim Jong-un will not be ignored. Even with Europe braced for a shooting war in Ukraine, the Winter Olympics set to begin in China and a pandemic still uncontained, the North Korean leader is using a battery of missile firings to remind the world of the threat he poses and give President Biden another growing foreign policy headache to address.

January 30, 2022