Ukraine faced the prospect of renewed political confrontation on the streets after exit polls predicted that the man closely allied to Moscow was heading for victory in the fiercely contested presidential election last night.

According to exit polls published immediately after voting ended, Yuliya Tymoshenko, the glamorous, firebrand leader of the Orange Revolution and Prime Minister, was narrowly beaten by Viktor Yanukovych, her bitter rival.

The margin of defeat, however, was as little as 3 percentage points, paving the way for a potential challenge in the courts — and in the streets, if her campaign alleges widespread ballot fraud.

The United States wants to "depoliticize" the proposed Nabucco pipeline project, and might welcome Russia’s participation in the pipeline, Washington’s Eurasian energy envoy, Richard Morningstar, recently announced. The Kremlin, however, is likely to interpret this outwardly magnanimous gesture as a sign of Nabucco’s weakness, some experts say.

Speaking at a late January forum sponsored by the Washington, DC,-based Center for American Progress, Morningstar indicated that the United States would not necessarily object if Europeans ultimately chose to build the Russian-backed Nord Stream or South Stream pipelines. Morningstar’s appearance at the forum was billed as the first comprehensive exposition of the Obama administration’s Caspian energy strategy. While continuing to back the same basic principles as the Bush and Clinton administrations, it was clear from the talk that the Obama administration has much more modest goals regarding Caspian energy than its predecessors.

U.S. and Russian arms-control negotiators have reached an "agreement in principle" on the first nuclear-arms-reduction treaty in nearly two decades, administration and arms-control officials said Tuesday.

The deal, which was widely expected, would bring down deployed nuclear warheads and sharply limit the number of missiles and bombers that can deliver them.

Rose Gottemoeller, the Obama administration's lead negotiator, flew to Geneva Monday to help draft the final text and begin what could still be an arduous process of translating the agreement into treaty language, an administration official said.

We hope that we will very soon have reason to welcome a new agreement between the United States and Russia on further reductions of strategic nuclear weapons. It makes no sense for either country to spend billions on weapons systems of such radically diminishing strategic utility.

But as we look forward toward welcoming such an agreement, we simultaneously call for early progress on steep reductions in sub-strategic nuclear weapons — in Europe often referred to as tactical weapons.

Russia says it will support the West in Aghanistan, but it is also pleading for a more energetic fight against drugs. Dmitry Rogozin, Moscow's ambassador to NATO, tells SPIEGEL ONLINE why Russia feels the threat of Afghan heroin is greater than the one posed by the Taliban. He also warns against a Western failure in the Hindu Kush.

The Obama Administration is drawing up a list of tough new sanctions against Iran in preparation for a possible UN Security Council vote within weeks.

The proposed sanctions, aimed at Iranian financial institutions and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, will be circulated among Security Council member countries as early as today after strong indications that Russian and Chinese opposition is fading. Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, held talks with her counterparts from both countries in London this week, urging them to recognise that their efforts at negotiating a halt to Iran’s nuclear programme had failed.

NATO and Kazakhstan completed an agreement Wednesday that will permit NATO allies to ship cargo through Kazakh territory to Afghanistan, providing an important alternative to vulnerable routes elsewhere.

Kazakhstan was the final holdout in the so-called northern supply line, which will allow cargo to pass overland from Europe to NATO troops in Afghanistan. Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan have signed similar agreements.

Russia and NATO formally resumed military ties Tuesday in the latest sign of improving relations between the Cold War rivals as they move to boost cooperation in the fight against insurgents in Afghanistan.

It was the first meeting between NATO and Russia military officials since relations broke down in the wake of Russia's war with Georgia in August 2008.

Russia ended a five-month diplomatic freeze with Ukraine on Monday, demonstrating the Kremlin's relief over President Viktor Yushchenko's failed re-election bid and its willingness to work with either of his successors.

Mikhail Zurabov, whose posting as Russia's ambassador had been delayed since August, arrived in Kiev and handed his credentials to Ukraine's foreign minister. He avoided the lame-duck president, who had angered Russian leaders with policies they considered hostile.

Six international powers are counting on unity to check Iran's nuclear ambitions, according to a European diplomat who expects China to drop its opposition to new sanctions for fear of isolation.

As Iran balks at a confidence-building proposal, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council -- the United States, Russia, China, France, and Britain -- plus Germany are increasingly weighing sanctions.

The negotiating group, known as the P5-plus-1, looks likely to head back to the United Nations.