VIENNA - The Eurochambers president Leitl told Sputnik on Tuesday that he welcomed the creation of a free trade zone between Europe and Russia, dubbing it a perfect opportunity. "This would be a perfect opportunity. [...]

The Russian Foreign Ministry summoned the Austrian ambassador on Friday to protest over ‘sensationalist media leak’ about a former military officer accused of spying for Moscow, and expressed concern over damage to relations. Earlier, the Austrian government confirmed reports in the national media that a retired Austrian colonel was being prosecuted for espionage. [...]

The list of the countries currently taking active steps towards eliminating their economic reliance on the US dollar is growing. Russia has joined a league of nations is making a lot of headway with the task, the WSJ reports. [...]

Europe’s desire to create its own army and stop relying on Washington for defense is not only understandable, but would be “positive” for the multipolar world, Vladimir Putin said days after Donald Trump ripped into it. [...]

Russian Ambassador to France Alexey Meshkov said in an interview with Sputnik that French President Emmanuel Macron's call to build a new security architecture in Europe jointly with Russia was an encouraging signal. [...]

The Russian embassy in the United States said it expected the popularity of Crimean health resorts, recently targeted by the US sanctions, to increase, noting that Crimea welcomed tourists from the United States. "We expect that the popularity of these very resorts will grow. We are sure they will introduce special fares for US tourists. Crimea is waiting for guests from the United States to visit [...]

Kronen Zeitung earlier reported that a former colonel of the Austrian Armed Forces had been detained on suspicion of spying for Russia for 20 years. Meanwhile, Austrian newspaper Die Presse reported that the suspect in the espionage scandal had already confessed to committing the crime. [...]

Much has been made of the possible geopolitical motivations behind the decision to price the $5 billion Russian-Indian S-400 deal in roubles, and Moscow and Beijing are eyeing another rouble/yuan-based trade compact. However, Sputnik has discovered that there's also a purely economic reason for the three countries to move away from the dollar. [...]

Israel will do utmost to prevent such incidents like the downing of a Russian Il-20 plane near Syria from happening again, Yacov Livne, the director of the Israeli Foreign Ministry’s Euro-Asia Department, said on Monday. [...]

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently indicated that Washington was "making a colossal strategic mistake" by "undermining confidence in the dollar" amid Russian plans to reduce the country's dependence on the US currency in global trade. [...]

Russia has delivered 49 units of its sophisticated S-300 long-range surface-to-air missile systems to Syria in wake of the accidental destruction of a Russian Il-20 plane by Syrian air defenses responding to an Israeli attack. [...]

Russia intends to sign an agreement in mid-November on giving Cuba a loan worth 38 million euros ($43.25 million) as part of the two countries' defense cooperation agenda, Russian Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak told reporters on Friday. [...]

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that he had discussed with a Russian delegation, led by Deputy Finance Minister Sergey Storchak, the ways to strengthen Venezuela's economic independence. [...]

Mexico's president-elect Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador perceives the cooperation with Russia as one of his foreign policy priorities, Russian Ambassador to Mexico Viktor Koronelli said. [...]

Russia’s money transfer system, developed as an alternative to SWIFT is now more popular than the global network, said Anatoly Aksakov, head of the Russian parliamentary committee on financial markets. [...]

Europe should reach out to Russia and abandon “counterproductive” economic sanctions – or risk seeing it drifting further towards China, former president of France Nicolas Sarkozy has warned, in a candid interview. [...]

The US, Canada and EU states have suffered economic setbacks as a result of imposing anti-Russian sanctions, but a recent report suggests that certain countries have been affected more than others. [...]

Cuba's new president Miguel Diaz-Canel is starting his official three-day visit to Russia on November 1. Moscow and Havana have been re-establishing trade ties, a tradition going back to Soviet times. [...]

The US Missile Defense Agency has been practicing shooting down a land-based medium-range ballistic missile, just as Washington prepares for its withdrawal from the cornerstone INF nuclear non-proliferation agreement. [...]

Washington has been putting external pressure on EU states over the Russian-European Nord Stream 2 project and repeatedly threatened to impose sanctions on the involved entities. The US cites security and energy independence reasons, while promoting more expensive US LNG. [...]

About 20 politicians, businesspeople and public figures from Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia are planning to attend the Fifth Yalta International Economic Forum next spring, notwithstanding the countries' poor relations with Moscow and their governments' stubborn refusal to recognize the peninsula's status as part of Russia. [...]

The Open Skies Treaty covers most NATO member states as well as Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Sweden and Finland. As a rule, flights of Russia and NATO member states are conducted on a reciprocal basis. The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) has revealed in August that the US would not obligate any funds to implement the Open Skies Treaty until penalties ar [...]