The political standoff between the West and Russia has put many through difficult times. Russia is living through a severe crisis, exacerbated by EU sanctions – but that’s as business in Europe also is in trouble, as the loss of a major partner has dealt a blow to prosperity. Can the European Union afford the confrontation, given the state some of its economies are in, and the dissent that [...]

In May China imported a record 3.92 million metric tons of crude oil from Russia, which is equivalent to 927,000 barrels per day. Russia has become Beijing's top crude supplier for the first time since October 2005. “Russia is using its good relationship with China to increase supplies and has now taken the top spot,” Gao Jian, an analyst at Shandong-based energy consultant SCI Internationa [...]

Afghanistan has been at the center of the geopolitical grand game for centuries. With complex local, regional and international interests overlapping, the prospects for security in the country remain uncertain. Can the Afghan government reach reconciliation with the Taliban and maintain independence from foreign influence? And how will it contend with the growing Islamic State footprint on its [...]

We all remember how, in early June, President Putin announced that Russia would deploy more than 40 new ICBMs "able to overcome even the most technically advanced anti-missile defense systems." Oh dear; the Pentagon and their European minions have been freaking out on overdrive ever since. [...]

Left-wing German politician and former finance minister Oskar Lafontaine has some harsh language message for US on its politics concerning Russia and Ukraine. He has also called on the EU to oppose Washington. In a Facebook post which cannot be quoted fully quote due to strong language, Lafontaine, whose latest political post was co-chairman of the democratic socialist party The Left, called US [...]

Washington plans to station hardware, including tanks and armored vehicles, in a number of European countries, Defense Secretary Ash Carter announced on Tuesday. Nukes withdrawn in the 1980s will not return to Europe. Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, and Romania will be hosting the new hardware, and it will be possible to move it around for exercises, Carter said as he stood with h [...]

The Ukrainian crisis is about Ukraine, but not about Central or Western Europe, says Jonathan Steele, Guardian international affairs columnist. But NATO needs to justify its existence and sell arms, that's why a demonetization of Russia is taking place. On Monday, US Defense Secretary Ashton Carter claimed America will provide more aircraft, weapons and soldiers to NATO’s rapid reaction force [...]

Never has a leader so catastrophically misjudged the character of an enemy as Hitler misjudged the Soviet Union and its people prior to launching his invasion of the country on June 22, 1941. Hitler and other top Nazis were convinced that the Soviet Union would crumble under the weight of the largest military operation ever mounted, codenamed Operation Barbarossa. [...]

The IMF moving away from supporting Greece while remaining eager to underwrite bankrupt Ukraine underlines the dramatic collapse in EU power. It’s probably because it rolls off the tongue more easily. The phrase ‘poker face,’ I mean. The serious exponents of the art of never giving away the slightest facial tic must surely be synchronized swimmers. [...]

The situation with the sanctions won't escalate as Russia wants to keep a way open for political dialogue with the EU, said Alexander Mercouris, International Affairs Editor at Russia Insider, adding that Brussels' policy is "wrong" and "failing". The EU is officially extending sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine. The restrictions will remain in place for at least another six mo [...]

The dialogue between Russia and the United States can only be equal and must not amount to lectures on democracy-building, says the Foreign Ministry's envoy for human rights. “If they want to lecture us on how we should build our democracy, I suggest they rather deliver such lectures in some US university,” Konstantin Dolgov told reporters on Tuesday. [...]

Greece and its lenders have been gridlocked in talks over its €240-billion debt for about six months. Fears of Greece defaulting are causing a run on the banks, with people withdrawing record amounts of deposits. RT will report on the latest developments. The EU could easily give Greece debt reduction or even cancel it, Richard Wolff, Professor of Economics, University of MA, told RT. [...]

Winning the battlefield called public opinion has never been so important nor so divisive. The western media’s assault on Russia approaches sensory overload, but is it effective? There is a vast ongoing propaganda war being played out – whose propaganda should we be worried about? [...]

Russia held US Treasury bills worth $66.5 billion as of April this year, according to the latest monthly report from the US Treasury. That compares with the $116.4 billion held a year ago. From March to April 2015, Russia sold $3.4 billion in US Treasury bonds,reported US Department of the Treasury Monday. [...]

The Asia-Pacific region has overtaken Europe in terms of global wealth management for the first time, becoming the world's second wealthiest region with $47 trillion says a report released by BCG. It's on the way to overtaking North America next year. In 2019 private wealth in the countries in the Asia-Pacific area is expected to account for one-third of global wealth, according to the report p [...]

By slavishly following Washington's line on Russia, Europe's leaders are essentially sticking pins into voodoo dolls of themselves. It's as pointless as it is ridiculous. If America were hand-picking European leaders, it’s doubtful that they could select as subservient a crew as now dominate the EU. [...]

Britons view military personnel as "victims" who more likely to commit suicide, suffer from post-traumatic stress and serve prison time, according to a study, which claims these perceptions are inaccurate. The survey, carried out by King’s College London and polling company Ipsos MORI, has led to fears that recruiting – already at a serious low – could be damaged. [...]

Western leaders seem not to have a clue about conflict resolution and confidence building and their mentality will sooner or later lead to war, says Jan Oberg director of the Transnational Foundation for Peace and Future Research. Poland is on its way to hosting NATO heavy weapons. Warsaw has confirmed it expects ongoing talks to come to an agreement. [...]

A wing of Greece's anti-austerity Syriza party is eyeing a plan to default on government debt and replace the euro with its own national currency in case negotiations on a bailout with its creditors fail, media have reported. The plan envisions a default similar to the one implemented by Iceland during the 2008 financial crisis, along with the nationalization of the Greek banking system. [...]

Russia has no binding obligations limiting its armed forces in its western region, which means if the US deploys heavy weapons in Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, there will be an equivalent response from Moscow, Russia's top general said. “If America’s heavy arms, be it tanks, artillery systems or other heavy military hardware are deployed to Eastern Europe and the Baltic States, it w [...]

Saudi Arabia has beheaded a Syrian drug trafficker, rocketing the number of this year's executions in the Kingdom to 100. This figure is already more than the 87 sentenced and put to death in the country during the whole of last year. The execution took place on Monday in the northern region of Jawf. Syrian Ismael al-Tawm smuggled "a large amount of banned amphetamine pills into the kingdom,” [...]

Moscow is expecting Kiev to clarify whether the latter is going to honor Ukraine's international commitments made by the previous authorities, including the $3 billion debt to Russia, after President Poroshenko dubbed it a "bribe" to Viktor Yanukovich. “In the first place, we are expecting some kind of explanations on whether the current Ukrainian authorities are planning to reject their stat [...]