CRIMEAN BRIDGE - Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday he would like people to start using the Crimean Bridge linking the peninsula with the Krasnodar Territory, as early as this summer. "Of course, I would like people to start using the bridge this summer," Putin said at a meeting with construction workers during his trip to several regions in the south of Russia, including Crimea. [...]

EXCERPT FROM NEW RUSSIAN DOCUMENTARY MOVIE ABOUT PUTIN "THE WORLD ORDER 2018." How west propaganda use this phrase against Russia? First, they use only the half sentence without letting Putin complete the proposal. Second, immediately drew the conclusion from these words only, that Russia , is the one that she is hiding behind of double Russia's Spy poisoned. They wanted to present with the [...]

UK-based media outlets are adamant in their support of the British government's baseless stance in Skripal's case. The UK has been blaming Moscow since the first reports appeared about the incident involving the Russian ex-spy. Sputnik spoke with Matthew Gordon Banks, former Conservative MP, about the case. [...]

Political scientist Basam Raja has explained to Sputnik what British intelligence might have gained from former Russian spy Sergei Skripal’s “attempted murder.” Commenting on the heightened tensions between Russia and the UK, Raja said that recent “media and political attacks on Moscow by London are directly linked to the former’s advances in liberating Eastern Ghouta from militants.” [...]

Washington once again dominated the world market for munitions, maintaining its top global weapon sales rank since the 20th century end of the first Cold War. US President Donald Trump has opened the floodgates of worldwide gun delivery, as a new report notes over $80 billion in arms sales notifications delivered to Congress in fiscal 2017 — continuing a legacy of America as the largest weapon [...]

A new high-speed bullet train has been rolled out by the Central Japan Railway (JR Tokai). It will debut in 2020 on the Tokaido Shinkansen line, running between Tokyo and Shin-Osaka. According to JR Tokai, the new Shinkansen N700S or Shinkansen ‘Supreme’ train will be smarter, sleeker and quieter. [...]

Ukrainian police and radicals have blocked Russian diplomatic missions to prevent voters from participating in the presidential election. The move was condemned by Russian officials as a “blatant violation of international law.” [...]

KASSEL (Germany) (Sputnik) - Moscow was Berlin's only foreign partner that provided Germany with additional natural gas during the cold period in early March, Mario Mehren, the CEO of the Wintershall energy company, said. [...]

Russians are going to the polls on Sunday to elect their president, who will govern the country for the next six years. There are over 108 million eligible voters in Russia and nearly 2 million people can vote abroad. Radio Sputnik spoke with Tom McGregor, political analyst and Asia-Pacific commentator at China’s national TV broadcaster – CNTV. [...]

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has lashed out at Russia, saying that the country is “becoming increasingly unpredictable and aggressive,” and insisted that the alliance must improve its defensive capabilities in the face of Russia’s nuclear threat. [...]

For Markus Bergfeld, whose children were allegedly taken away from the family and poisoned with psychotropic drugs, Russia is the last resort, the ex-German officer told the Russian newspaper Daily Storm. [...]

A mere two weeks ago, British Prime Minister Theresa May was a very unpopular politician hated by everyone and their dog because of her disastrous Brexit negotiations. Now, she's the leader of a "nation under attack" and all her sins are forgotten. [...]

Applying the principle of cui bono – who benefits? – to the case of Sergei Skripal might lead investigators away from the Kremlin as the prime suspect and towards Western intelligence agencies, argues James O’Neill. The suspected nerve agent attack upon former Russian intelligence officer Sergei Skripal, which also affected his daughter in the English city of Salisbury last Sunday, has give [...]

Three countries agree with Britain that "it was highly likely that Russia was responsible for the attack." President Donald Trump has consistently refused to punish Russia for its attacks on the United States and around the world — but that changed somewhat today. [...]

Central banks around the world have been building up their gold stockpiles to make sure they are stored on soil they can trust. The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) says it is bringing back three tons of the country’s gold reserves stored at the Bank of England in London, Gold Seek reported. The move to repatriate 130 million dollars’ worth of gold from Budapest previously stored on Britis [...]

The choice of former CIA director Mike Pompeo as secretary of state, America's vow to strike against the Syrian government again and UK PM Theresa May's groundless accusations against Russia this week are parts of one very disturbing trend, geopolitical analyst Phil Butler told Sputnik. [...]

Ukrainian MP Nadezhda Savchenko, who was lauded as a hero for her role in the Donbass military campaign and her prosecution in Russia, is now accused of plotting to blow up the national parliament in Kiev. [...]

France has undermined Theresa May’s attempts to garner support for punitive action against Russia, saying it wants more proof Moscow was behind the Salisbury poisoning. It accused the PM of engaging in “fantasy politics.” On Wednesday, May announced the expulsion of 23 Russian diplomats and the suspension of bilateral talks. [...]

A regional lawmaker from Germany has called Western sanctions against Russia “counterproductive,” and said accepting the choice that the Crimean people made in 2014 could bring peace to Ukraine. “I think that the sanctions introduced after Crimea held its referendum and was reunited with Russia are counterproductive. [...]

George Galloway has dismissed claims that Russia is “culpable” for the Skripal poisoning, saying it wouldn’t put a “signature” on such a crime. Moscow is preparing to expel British diplomats in retaliation for UK sanctions. Speaking to RT’s Bill Dod, the former Labour MP hit back at Prime Minister Theresa May’s allegations that Russia was behind the poisoning of Sergei Skripal and h [...]

On March 12, UK Prime Minister Theresa May stated before the British Parliament that Russia was "highly likely" responsible for the suspected poisoning in the UK of former officer of Russia’s Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Sergei Skripal. She added that the substance used in the poisoning had been identified as a military-grade nerve agent of the so-called Novichok group developed in Russia [...]

Moscow believes that the threats to Damascus to use force against Syria are unacceptable, Russia's permanent representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Alexander Shulgin has said on Wednesday after US envoy's to UN statement about readiness to act militarily on Syria. [...]