A military security system, which would include Russia, should be set up instead of NATO, Sahra Wagenknecht, leader of the German Left party said in an interview, echoing Trump’s recent statements on NATO. [...]

Iran says it rejects any participation by US representatives at the scheduled Syria peace talks in Astana, Kazakhstan. Earlier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said he believes US and UN representatives should be invited to the meeting. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he has no grounds to attack or protect US President-elect Donald Trump, since he does not know him personally. He added though that those behind the recent allegations against Trump have "no moral scruples." [...]

A human rights spokesperson for Chancellor Merkel’s CDU is quitting the conservative party citing sharp discontent with the government’s “political will” to let thousands of unidentified refugees in, despite the risk of terrorists slipping through as well. [...]

While the US continues to publicly accuse Russia of numerous hacking attacks without providing any proof, it actually actively uses its own advantages in cyberspace for surveillance and intelligence purposes, Russia’s security chief has said. [...]

German intelligence has accused Russia of systematically undermining relations between Europe and the US, German Spiegel Online magazine wrote, citing a new report prepared jointly by the Federal Intelligence Service and the German Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. [...]

In the last week of his presidency, Barack Obama extended sanctions against Russia. Next US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized the policy of sanctions. However, experts warn that Trump is unlikely to lift the sanctions in the first months of his term. [...]

Russian singer Victoria Tsyganova has sent a parcel to the wife of newly elected US president Donald Trump containing a jacket made of fur and cashmere. It will be delivered to the US by the Russian Post. According to the Russian Post, the parcel was sent to the US on Friday from Sheremetyevo airport on a regular flight to New York. [...]

Austria needs an “effective law banning political Islam,” said Heinz-Christian Strache, the head of the Austrian far-right Freedom Party (FPO), adding that the Alpine country should also stop accepting new migrants and refugees. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has once again "outmaneuvered" US President Barack Obama by refraining from slapping reciprocal sanctions on American government agencies and expelling US diplomats, Earl Rasmussen, Executive Vice President of the Eurasia Center, told RIA Novosti. [...]

True to national emblem, Russian President Vladimir Putin has shown bear-like stoicism. As for the presumed American eagle, US President Barack Obama appears more like a trussed-up turkey. Not for the first time, the contrast in character between Putin and Obama was illustrated in the latest diplomatic spat over alleged Russian hacking. [...]

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has posted a scathing Facebook comment on US President Barack Obama’s approval of new anti-Russian measures, arguing Obama’s “bitter” and “helpless” team did a disfavor to the White House’s reputation. Zakharova wrote that the outgoing president did not manage to leave “any” major foreign policy achievements as part of his [...]

The new chairman of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has said he seeks to improve relations with Russia, as there can be no "positive developments" on the continent with the current punitive approach. Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz said his country, Austria, will work to "gradually" ease sanctions imposed by the West against Russia in connection with Ukra [...]

Washington does not possess any evidence of Russia allegedly influencing the US presidential election despite claims by mainstream media, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday. In an interview to another US broadcaster, Spicer said that Trump and his team would wait for the final report from intelligence services before making any decisions regarding alleged Russia's hackin [...]

In late-December, the German newspaper Bild reported that former United States Secretary of State Henry Kissinger would be involved in normalizing ties between Moscow and Washington. The analysis of information, obtained by European intelligence from President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team and cited by Bild, revealed that the White House would go for a "constructive cooperation" with the [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin has responded to the outgoing US administration’s efforts to provoke conflict through new sanctions in what some are calling the “most embarrassing” way possible for US President Barack Obama. [...]

The liberation of Aleppo by the Syrian Army delivers a "heavy blow" to all terrorist groups which have been fighting in the country for over four years, according to Argentine journalist Leandro Albani. Leandro has worked as a reporter in the Middle East for the magazine Sudestada and websites such as Resumen Latinoamericano and Marcha.org. [...]

[Elite_video_player id="11"]   Although Austria’s right-wing presidential candidate was defeated in a close election, his success has sent ripples of panic across the EU. As anti-establishment politicians gain momentum across the bloc, many predict a political storm gathering in Europe. With the victory of Donald Trump in America’s presidential election emboldening right-wing pol [...]

The European Union-Ukraine association deal does not automatically make Kiev a candidate for the bloc and does not include such a “commitment” for the future, the EU Council has stated. The decision was listed in the Council’s conclusion on Ukraine, following a meeting of EU leaders on Thursday in Brussels. [...]

Russia’s UN envoy Vitaly Churkin hit back at his US counterpart, Samantha Power, at a UN Security Council meeting, saying that she was not Mother Teresa and represents a country with a long record of violations. Power and Churkin both spoke at a UN Security Council meeting on Aleppo in New York City on Monday. [...]

US President Barack Obama said Russia "in fact" had "hacked into the DNC," but that the actual voting process was not compromised. The White House was just trying to "let people know" what was going on, and the media interpreted the reasons, he said. [...]

Vladimir Putin and Japanese PM Shinzo Abe have worked out a statement on the prospects of joint Russian-Japanese economic activities in the South Kuril Islands as the Russian leader arrived in Japan for what’s seen as a breakthrough visit. [...]