Moscow and Beijing will team up to create an integrated navigation system based on Russia’s Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS) and the Chinese BeiDou. The satellite system will cover most of Eurasia. The countries will reportedly negotiate the merger in May at the International Conference on Advanced Technologies in Manufacturing and Materials Engineering in the Chinese city of Harbin, [...]

Russia’s Embassy in London has sent a list of 14 questions to the UK Foreign Ministry, demanding that it reveals details of the investigation into the nerve-agent poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter. The questions, provided in full below, include a demand to clarify whether samples of the nerve agent А-234 (also known as “Novichok”) have ever been developed in [...]

Although German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas positively assessed the decision of European countries to expel Russian diplomats, he still expressed hope that Moscow and Berlin will remain partners. The expulsion of Russian diplomats from Germany should be taken merely as a sign of solidarity with the UK and other EU member states, German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said. [...]

Russia has completed the development of small-caliber ammunition for its fifth generation fighter Su-57 (PAK FA). Russia’s fifth generation Su-57 fighter jets will be armed with the newly-designed Drel air bomb, the deputy head of the Techmash Concern, Alexander Kochkin said. [...]

The Russian Embassy has warned of the growing anti-Russian sentiments in Britain in the wake of the increasing tensions surrounding the Skripal case. The Russian Embassy has called on its citizens to reconsider their plans of traveling to the UK as well as sending their children to study English in the UK. [...]

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - UK Home Office explanations aggravate doubts about real reasons behind the search on board the Russian passenger aircraft in London, the Russian embassy in the United Kingdom said in a Saturday statement. "This is a clear attempt by the Minister to divert attention from the provocative actions by British law enforcement officers who have tried to search the aircraft without [...]

Vienna refused to expel Russian diplomats not because it feared reprisal, but because it stands for open dialogue, Austria’s foreign minister said, decrying the UK’s attempts to lure the country into taking “certain measures.” Austria refrained from expelling Russian diplomats earlier this week, in contrast to its EU neighbors, who chose to rely on the UK’s assertion that Russia was behi [...]

On Monday, a number of European countries, as well as the United States and Canada, announced they were expelling Russian diplomats over the Skripal case. Radio Sputnik discussed the significance of the diplomatic response by the Western powers with Srdja Trifkovic, a US journalist and writer on international affairs. [...]

Germany has issued a permit for the construction and operation of an offshore section of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of Germany in the Baltic Sea. “The BSH [Federal Maritime and Hydrographic Agency of Germany] issued the permit for this approximately 30-kilometres-long route section in accordance with the Federal Mining Act,” the company in charge of the pr [...]

Russia's Kalashnikov Concern, which is known throughout the world for its production of reliable AK assault rifles, has reportedly decided to foray into fresh fields. The Russian defense manufacturing concern Kalashnikov has agreed with State Corporation Rostec to acquire 60 percent of the shares of the Molniya research and production association, which developed the first-ever Soviet space [...]

This week, in an article published on the UK government's official website addressed to European media, Johnson wrote about the upcoming fourth anniversary of what he referred to as "the events which led to the illegal annexation of Crimea." Responding to British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's recent article about Moscow's "seizure" of Crimea from Ukraine, the Russian Embassy in London h [...]

Nearly two dozen countries have joined the UK in expelling Russian diplomats over the poisoning of ex--spy Sergei Skripal in southern England. Speaking to Sputnik, Daniel McAdams, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute for Peace & Prosperity, shared his thoughts on the broader implications of the case, and what Russia's approach should be. [...]

The US military has admitted that the United States is lagging behind Russia and China when it comes to hypersonic weapons development, according to The Hill. "Right now we are helpless," Republican US Senator James Inhofe, who sits on the Armed Services Committee, was quoted by The Hill as saying. [...]

The UK Foreign Office has confirmed the content of the reported document with London's "proof" of alleged Russian involvement in the poisoning of Skripal, saying that it fully reflects May's position. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, the analysis of the Skripals' case "shows that the UK authorities are not interested in finding out the motives and those responsible for the crime in Salis [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Russia must take responsibility for the alleged poisoning of Sergei Skripal in the UK if it wants to improve relations with the United States, US State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said during a press briefing on Tuesday. "If Russia wants to improve relations it needs to first acknowledge its responsibility for this attack and cease its recklessly aggressive be [...]

The UN declined to comment on the legality of Washington’s move to expel 12 Russian staff working there, saying only that it had been “notified.” The US envoy to Russia hinted they hadn’t even sent notification in advance.  Speaking to reporters, the UN spokesman declined to comment on the US move to expel 12 Russian diplomats from the permanent mission to the UN, citing the “sensitivi [...]

China is the world's biggest crude consumer and buys most of its oil from Russia. However, most settlements are still in US dollars. The launch of the petro-yuan now allows Moscow and Beijing to use national currencies instead. China and Russia are actively reducing dependence on the dollar in bilateral trade. In October 2017, Beijing launched a payment system for transactions in yuan and Russian [...]

The UK must provide solid evidence of Russia's alleged involvement in the Skripal case, the Czech president has said. While he did not oppose the country’s move to expel Russian diplomats, he believes it to be “a bit superfluous.” “I want to see the facts. I will certainly welcome if the United Kingdom presents some evidence that the Russians wanted to kill the double agent Skripal,” Cz [...]

Russia’s L-44M amphibian plane was put to the hard test when it was made to belly-land on a snowfield and take off moments later. In a video, posted by the Samara-based aircraft maker Chaika, the dual-engine aircraft is seen coming in for landing and belly landing with its wheels up. [...]

President Donald Trump has ordered the expulsion of 60 Russian diplomats and the closure of the Russian consulate in Seattle. It comes in response to the poisoning of Sergei Skripal in Salisbury, which the UK has blamed on Russia. The move follows major diplomatic pressure by the UK on its allies to follow their lead in expelling Russian diplomats. [...]

Moscow won’t leave the provocative acts against Russian diplomats unanswered, the Foreign Ministry said, adding that several countries blindly copied the UK’s “hypocritical” stance on the Skripal case in the absence of evidence. The decision of a number of NATO and other European countries to expel Russian diplomats over the poisoning of the former double-agent Sergei Skripal amounts to a [...]

British politician, broadcaster, and writer George Galloway has slammed Donald Trump’s decision to expel 60 Russian diplomats and close the Russian consulate in Seattle. Galloway regards it as tantamount to a “declaration of war.” Galloway contrasted the US’ actions with those of EU member states. [...]