Russian President Vladimir Putin lamented the poor level of diplomatic competence demonstrated by Washington lately, saying Moscow found it difficult to work with people who cannot tell Austria and Australia apart. [...]

Moscow made the final payment on the remaining foreign debt inherited from the Soviet Union. Russia took on the debt after the other former Soviet republics refused to pay. “The debt to Bosnia and Herzegovina in the amount of $125.2 million has been settled in accordance with the agreement between the Government of the Russian Federation and the Council of Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina,” [...]

The UK government has decided to put out a tender for a US$6 million contract for facial recognition software, despite the fact thousands of pictures on their system may be of innocent people. [...]

While Syria and North Korea remain the focus of worldwide attention, the US continues to exert considerable pressure on "undesired regimes" in Latin America, Russian scholar Igor Pshenichnikov writes, wondering who will become Washington's next "target." [...]

Earlier this week, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani warned that Tehran may pull out from the nuclear deal if the United States continues its policy of sanctions against Iran. Experts reached by Sputnik, however, do not believe that Tehran will go that far. [...]

Russian scientists and local oil field services companies claim to have created a technology for thermochemical gas fracturing that could be an alternative to hydraulic fracturing and could increase oil production by between 1.7 and 6 times, Russia’s news agency RIA Novosti reports, citing the University of Tyumen’s press service. [...]

Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin said Wednesday that Russia's national currency, the ruble, should be supported because a "big trend toward the de-dollarization" of the country's economy is growing at a steady pace. [...]

The Turkish Stream gas pipeline project will be implemented on time, regardless of the new US law that expands sanctions against Moscow, Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said Friday. Novak explained that the contracts concerning the construction of the gas pipeline were concluded, and the construction was underway. [...]

The burning projectile fired by Russia’s TOS-1A heavy thermobaric flamethrower system is capable of making life a living hell for anyone within its reach. Aptly dubbed “Solntsepyok” (Sunheat), the TOS-1A heavy flamethrower system is a 220 mm 24-barrel multiple rocket launcher and thermobaric weapon mounted on a T-72 tank chassis. [...]

Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak said that the Nord Stream-2 and Turkish Stream gas pipeline projects would be implemented on time, regardless of the new US law that expands sanctions against Moscow. Political analyst Alex Zubets told Radio Sputnik that Brussels is well aware of its own interests and is likely to back the project. [...]

On Friday, a Russian nuclear submarine successfully hit a target in Russia’s northwestern Arkhangelsk region with a Kalibr cruise missile. "Today, the Northern Fleet's multipurpose nuclear submarine Severodvinsk successfully fired a Kalibr sea-based cruise missile. The crew conducted the underwater test launch from the Northern Fleet's test site in the Barents Sea. [...]

The Ukrainian Navy plans to open a NATO doctrine and tactical center before the end of this year, the Navy’s deputy chief of staff for Euro-Atlantic integration, said on Thursday. Expert Natalya Makeyeva told Sputnik that Ukraine is viewed by the West as an instrument in its standoff with Russia. [...]

The relationship between Turkey and the EU are further deteriorating, Dr. Rainer Rothfuss, geopolitical analyst and consultant, told RT. Rainer Rupp, publicist and former German intelligence officer, also joins the conversation. Turkish President Recep Erdogan urged nearly 3 million German Turks not to cast their vote for Chancellor Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats, Martin Schulz’s Socia [...]

Members of the Russian upper house have stated that the 16-year US military campaign in Afghanistan had ended in failure and reiterated a call for Washington to withdraw troops from that country. “George Bush Junior started the war, Barack Obama promised to end it but never did it. [...]

US Defense Secretary James Mattis put the military option against North Korea back on the table following President Trump’s Chief Strategist Steve Bannon saying that a military action against Pyongyang is out of the question. “There are strong military consequences if [North Korea] initiates hostilities,” Mattis said at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and [...]

The United States will most likely fail to oust Russia as the main supplier of gas to Europe, according to the Russian envoy to the European Union Vladimir Chizhov. "And if even Americans supplied liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe free of charge, they simply would not have had enough opportunity to replace Russian supplies," Chizhov said in an interview with Sputnik radio. [...]

The price tag attached to Britain’s next generation F-35 fighter jets is expected to rise dramatically. The controversial aircraft is in urgent need of an upgrade at a time when the British pound continues to fall in value. The UK Ministry of Defence (MoD) will pay around £80 million ($103 million) more for its F-35s, which have faced widespread criticism due to a number of technical mishaps [...]

The South Korean president has vowed to avoid “losing everything” in another conflict with the North, adding that Seoul can veto US military action in the region. He also warned North Korea “to end its dangerous gamble” with missile tests. [...]

Berlin must not spend billions on militarization to appease Donald Trump, the German foreign minister said, adding that Chancellor Angela Merkel should not “kneel” to the US president. German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel attacked Chancellor Merkel in a blunt op-ed for the Rheinische Post newspaper. [...]

Seeking to demonize Russian President Vladimir Putin, the Western media has apparently ended up inadvertently imbuing his image with almost godlike properties, effectively transforming the persona of a capable head of state into some kind of mythical omnipotent figure. Earlier in August Netflix released a film called Icarus – a ‘documentary’ about what Western media has called the ‘Ru [...]

Roscosmos and the Russian Ministry of Defense are likely to team up to facilitate the construction of the launch pad for the Angara heavy-lift carrier rockets, RIA Novosti contributor Andrei Stanavov writes, shedding light on why the Russian military is ready to give up using the Kazakhstan-based Baikonur cosmodrome. [...]

Damascus called on the UN Security Council to "stop the US-led coalition's crimes against Syrian citizens," a statement issued by the Syrian Foreign Ministry said. Syria calls again on the UN Security Council to fulfull its obligations for the sake of peace and security, and to stop the crimes of the US-led coalition against Syrian citizens," the document read. [...]