The Russian Defense Ministry has responded to the US accusations that Russia allegedly violates the UN Security Council resolution on the ceasefire in Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta. False US claims on "hospital bombing" in Ghouta came after Syrian troops repelled pro-US groups, the Russian Defense Ministry said. [...]

If Western sanctions go as far as excluding Russia from the world wide web, the country's own internet is ready, according to the Russian presidential aide on the internet, German Klimenko. "Technically, we are ready for anything now,” he told NTV news channel. However, the shutdown will not be painless, Klimenko added. [...]

Europe should be rebuilt around people, not bureaucracy, said Matteo Salvini, the leader of the Euroskeptic Lega Nord party, after the group made considerable gains in the country’s general election. Salvini’s party won over 18 percent of the vote in Sunday’s election, according to preliminary results. [...]

German car maker Porsche continues to impress and is mulling a new way to create a vehicle which would be able to easily navigate around any potential gridlock on city highways. In an interview with the German magazine Automobilwoche, Porsche sales chief Detlev von Platen said that it did not rule out the creation of a flying passenger vehicle by Volkswagen's sports car maker. [...]

While Washington ostensibly supports the peaceful resolution of the Ukraine-Donbass conflict, new revelations - if true - do not add to these claims and on the contrary seem to be in sync with the approval of US weapons to Kiev. The Swiss newspaper Le Temps has reported about scores of US and Canadian instructors training Ukrainian servicemen at the former Soviet firing range Yavorov in wester [...]

Israel's resumed efforts to crack down on Iran could be fueled by Benjamin Netanyahu's looming bribery investigation, geopolitical analyst Gilbert Mercier told Sputnik. As tensions are escalating between Ankara and Damascus over Afrin, Mercier suggested that it would be a strategic mistake on the part of President Bashar Assad to protect the Kurds. [...]

Gevorg Mirzayan, a foreign policy and politics expert, detailed why many in the United States will have difficulty understanding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s true message.  The world's media keeps discussing Vladimir Putin's recent address to the Federal Assembly, in which the head of the state presented a number of new Russian weapons. [...]

Major General Qassem Soleimani, senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, has provided the country's Foreign Ministry with documents proving US collaboration with Daesh beyond a shadow of a doubt, Iranian media has reported. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, special advisor on international affairs to Iran's speaker of parliament, said he had a meeting with Soleimani and received t [...]

The newest Russian missile, “Avangard,” which can travel at speeds up to Mach 20, makes US defenses totally useless because US counter-missiles can only travel at Mach 5, says one military expert. According to Alexey Leonkov, a former employee of the 30 Central Research Institute of Russia's Aerospace Force, the newest hypersonic missile that Russian President Vladimir Putin presented today ma [...]

As the "Beast from the East" brings snow and severe cold to Europe, EU member states turn to their longstanding partner Gazprom to tackle the challenge, Andrzej Szczesniak, an energy security analyst, told Sputnik, explaining why Poland would rather freeze than embrace the Russia-led Nord Stream 2 project. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied accusations he revived an arms race by unveiling Russia’s new nuclear deterrent. That was done by US President George W. Bush killing a 30-year-old missile treaty in 2002, he told NBC.  In an interview with NBC’s “Megyn Kelly Today” on Thursday, the Russian leader brushed off claims in the Western media that by introducing new nuclear-powered mi [...]

The US White House and Pentagon have dismissed Russia’s new nuclear arsenal as “no surprise.” American officials took the opportunity to accuse Russia of treaty violations and boast that their arsenal is “second to none.” [...]

Exclusive: Selective outrage over civilian suffering in Syria – hyping Syrian government abuses while downplaying the effects of U.S.-led Coalition air strikes – undermines the legitimacy of human rights advocacy, argues Jonathan Marshall. Few things threaten the legitimacy of human rights advocacy more than partisans invoking it selectively to promote one side in a violent conflict. Tha [...]

With the so-called “Western military strategy” having been a failure, Iraqi leaders are now looking to Russia in a bid to improve the country’s defenses. The Iraqi government is interested in buying the S-400 air  defense system from Russia to defend the country’s airspace, the head of the parliament’s defense and security committee, Hakim al-Zamili, has said. [...]

In January, Russia’s Central Bank (CBR) increased its holding of gold by almost 20 metric tons to 1,857 tons, hitting a historic high and outstripping China in gold reserves. But why does Russia need so much gold and how does it help the government to level currency risks? Russia’s international reserves amount to $454 billion, gradually approaching the target level of $500 billion set by the [...]

The US-led coalition carried out airstrikes on Monday to impede the advance of pro-Damascus forces towards Syria’s oil-rich city of Deir ez-Zor, the Anadolu agency reported, citing local sources. Both Syria and the US have yet to comment on the fresh reports. [...]

An investigative journalist, known for reporting on the tax fraud and shady deals of Slovakia’s elite, was shot dead on Sunday. The killing resonated among the EU’s public, raising concerns over press freedom in the EU. The bodies of 27-year-old Jan Kuciak and his partner Martina Kusnirova were found by officers on Sunday evening in their house in Velka Maca, a town east of the capital Bratisl [...]

It’s no coincidence the US is warning against chemical weapons use by Damascus, while the most likely source of an attack would be rebels, to trigger a response against the Syrian government, says former US diplomat Jim Jatras. Amid calls for a ceasefire in eastern Ghouta, Syria, figures in Western media are accusing President Bashar Assad of launching a chemical gas attack. [...]

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has ordered the country’s state energy company PDVSA to close some of its purchase and sale deals using the national commodity-backed digital currency ‘petro.’ The country’s oil ministry tweeted the president’s directive, which also applies to Venezuelan state-run conglomerate CVG, which is charged with economic development in the Guayana region. [...]

A new report by Syrian media about the evacuation of Daesh militants adds to the growing evidence that the US is using its aviation to assist terrorists. According to the Syrian state-run news agency SANA, the US has evacuated Daesh leaders from the Al-Shaddadah area in the northeastern al-Hasakah Governorate using its helicopters. [...]

An article mentioning “NATO’s Eastern Front” in a headline got Germany’s Die Welt newspaper in hot water, with furious readers accusing it of warmongering. The term Eastern Front is associated with the 1941 Nazi invasion of USSR. [...]

For an event designed to address real global security issues, the Munich Security Conference has shown itself to be a useless talking shop. But it does add more propaganda fodder for Russia-bashing, Finian Cunnigham writes. [...]