Although Berlin has sided with the US and recognised self-proclaimed interim president Juan Guaido, it is keeping Otto Gebauer, whom he picked to represent Venezuela in Germany, in limbo and has not granted the representative key diplomatic status. Spain, above all, has reportedly urged fellow EU member states not to recognise him. [...]

US senators have proposed a bipartisan bill to make good on Washington's blackmail of Turkey – by halting the agreed transfer of 100 F-35 jets until Ankara tears up its deal with Moscow to buy S-400 air defense complexes. [...]

Donald Trump seems to be taking the “running the country as a business” shtick pretty seriously. Why else would he refer to Venezuela, a country his administration targeted for its latest regime change op, as a “company”? [...]

Twenty years after the start of NATO’s air strikes to force Slobodan Milosevic’s troops to withdraw from Kosovo, reporters who covered the bombing campaign recall the 78 days of violence, terror and destruction that changed the course of Yugoslavia’s history. "The evil, terrible, subversive, cowardly attack by the NATO army on Serbia and Yugoslavia is proof of the neo-Nazi policies of the US [...]

When Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir to the throne of Austro-Hungary, took a wrong turning in Sarajevo in 1914 the world found itself on the road to WW1. With Donald Trump’s self-serving recognition of Israel’s illegal annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights, a similar wrong turn has been taken, and it has paved the way to the next Middle East War. [...]

US President Donald Trump has warned that Russia must get out of Venezuela. Two planeloads of Russian troops are currently in the Latin American country under the terms of a 2001 cooperation treaty. [...]

It has become clear that US President Donald Trump, despite his vaunted prowess as the Dealmaker-in-Chief, isn't interested in brokering peace between Israel and Palestine. His Middle East peace has no room for Palestine at all. [...]

Italy’s endorsement of China’s global integration model – the Belt and Road Initiative – has caused ructions in the transatlantic alliance and also between members of the European Union delineating the bloc’s North-South divide. [...]

This week, President Trump announced that the time had come for the US to recognise Tel Aviv's claim to the Golan Heights following over 50 years of illegal occupation of the Syrian region by Israel following the 1967 Six Day War. Sputnik spoke with American writer Dr. E. Michael Jones to get a sense of what drove Trump to make his decision. [...]

Almost any economist will tell you that fighting several trade wars simultaneously is a bad idea. Any diplomat will tell you that alienating your closest ally is ill-advised. However, the trade hawks in Washington seem to think they can bully both Europe and China at the same time. [...]

Russian specialists are in Venezuela as part of the 2001 military-technical cooperation deal with Caracas that doesn’t need further approval, Moscow said after reports of the arrival of two military planes with troops and cargo. [...]

China will buy a total of 300 passenger jets from European aircraft maker Airbus as its US rival Boeing struggles in the aftermath of two deadly crashes involving its 737 MAX. [...]

Donald Trump's decision to recognize Israel's annexation of the Syrian Golan has been met with condemnation by the international community, with the UN and Washington's Gulf and European allies slamming the move. [...]

Italy’s desire to build trade ties with China isn’t a move against the US, but an effort to “maximise” its own interests, Italy’s former Foreign Minister Franco Frattini told RT, ahead of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s Rome visit. [...]

Berlin seems to be losing patience with the US ambassador who didn’t mince his words over German defense spending. A high-ranking MP demanded that the envoy be sent home because he acts “like an occupation commissioner.” [...]

One of the newest Russian airports, Platov International Airport in the city of Rostov-on-Don, has received the highest mark from the UK-based ranking organization Skytrax, becoming the first five-star Russian airport. Getting five stars from Skytrax is considered the most prestigious international award for airports and airlines. After a recent audit of the terminal, the organization added Platov [...]

Earlier this week, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling for the stopping of the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, which the document claimed boosts the EU's dependence on Russian gas supplies and threatens the bloc's energy security. [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The European Union reaffirmed its commitment to the policy of non-recognition of the results of the referendum in Crimea, after which the peninsula rejoined Russia, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement on Sunday, amid the fifth anniversary of the peninsula's reunification with Russia. [...]

Eight years after the conflict in Syria began, gloomy ‘how did it all go wrong for the West’ articles are appearing. Actually, there was no defeat for ‘the West’. The alternative to the Assad government prevailing was far worse. [...]

The US-backed ‘interim president’ of Venezuela Juan Guaido isn’t violating the 30-day constitutional limit because the legislature backing him voted to make it not apply, ‘explained’ the US special envoy Elliott Abrams. [...]

The Russian parliament has furthered a bill, which seeks to legalize growth of plants that can be used to produce opioids. The measure is meant to ensure that Russia has a steady supply of raw materials for producing painkillers. [...]

While the US has had a strategy to contain and isolate Iran, Iran continues to seek and build friendships with its regional neighbors. There are many indications that the US will not tolerate this for much longer. [...]