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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

Russian soldiers take part in drills at the Kadamovskiy firing range in the Rostov region in southern Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2021. (AP Photo) ** FILE **

NATO foreign ministers to huddle ahead of Russia talks on Ukraine

Secretary of State Antony Blinken and foreign ministers from NATO's 29 other member nations will gather virtually Friday ahead of a string of key diplomatic meetings with Russia aimed at trying to defuse mounting tensions over Ukraine, NATO officials said Tuesday morning.

January 4, 2022
President Joe Biden meets with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the Oval Office of the White House, Wednesday, Sept. 1, 2021, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

Biden steps up diplomacy to head off clash with Russia

President Biden was back at work trying to prevent a new war in Europe on Sunday, arranging a pep talk with Ukrainian Prime Minister Volodymyr Zelenskyy Sunday just days after a tough, nearly hour-long talk with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

January 2, 2022
Benko -- White to play and mate in three.

Chess for Christmas, confounding and consoling

'Tis the season to be -- a little melancholy, if you want to know the truth. Chess lovers have a lot to be thankful for these days, but there's an undeniable post-world championship match letdown now that Magnus Carlsen has successfully defended his crown -- again. And for a second straight holiday season, the specter of COVID-19 is hanging over the game.

December 21, 2021
Members of the Jehovah's Witnesses attend a court session in Perm, Russia, Wednesday, May 12, 2021. A court in the Russian city of Perm handed suspended sentences to five members of the Jehovah's Witnesses on Wednesday in connection with their beliefs. Russia banned the Jehovah's Witnesses in 2017 and declared it an extremist group, exposing all of its followers to prosecution. All five were handed suspended sentences between 2.5 and 7 years. (AP Photo/Anastasia Yakovleva)

U.S. joins appeal condemning repression of Jehovah’s Witnesses

The U.S. and six other countries Friday issued a joint declaration condemning repression of the Jehovah's Witnesses, the evangelizing Christian denomination that has faced severe state opposition in many of the countries where it operates.

December 17, 2021
Russian President Vladimir Putin talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping via videoconference at the Novo-Ogaryovo residence outside Moscow, Russia, Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2021. Chinese President Xi Jinping supported Russian President Vladimir Putin in his push to get Western security guarantees precluding NATO's eastward expansion, the Kremlin said Wednesday after the two leaders held a virtual summit. Putin and Xi spoke as Moscow faces heightened tensions with the West over a Russian troop buildup near Ukraine's border. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Putin RSVPs for Olympics in warm talk with China’s Xi

It doesn't rank as a big surprise, but Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed Wednesday he won't be honoring President Biden's call for a "diplomatic boycott" of the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing.

December 15, 2021
Blogger Siarhei Tsikhanouski, stands back to camera inside a cage, in a court room in remand prison in Gomel, Belarus, Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021. A court in Belarus on Tuesday sentenced the husband of the country's opposition leader Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya to 18 years in prison, six months after the trial began behind closed doors. The charges against Siarhei Tsikhanouski included organizing mass unrest and inciting hatred and have been widely seen as politically motivated. (Sergei Kholodilin/BelTA via AP)

Harsh prison terms for top democracy activists spark sharp Western criticism

The Biden administration and leading European allies on Tuesday forcefully condemned an 18-year jail sentence handed down to the husband of 2020 opposition presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, with the U.S. ambassador to Minsk calling it another "unjust" and "vengeful" act by the regime of Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko.

December 14, 2021