Syrian government forces make major battlefield gains against foreign-backed opposition. Simultaneously negotiators representing the main opposition groups refuse to return to peace talks in Geneva until their demands are met. Among those conditions were that the Syrian Army cease bombardments, in effect cease operations, in and around areas it has just recaptured. [...]

Developments on the Turkish-Syrian border give serious grounds to suspect that Ankara is planning a military invasion in Syria, the Russian Defense Ministry has said. “We have serious grounds to suspect intensive preparations by Turkey for a military invasion on the territory of the sovereign state of Syria,” Major General Igor Konashenkov, Defense Ministry spokesman, told journalists. [...]

EU sanctions against Russia have made no political progress and brought negative effects to Austria’s economy, said Austrian Vice-Chancellor Reinhold Mitterlehner during a visit to Moscow. We have over a thousand companies doing business with Russia from Austria, and another 500 Austrian firms working in Russia. 40,000 employees are being affected,” said Mitterlehner. [...]

Is it just coincidence that shortly after Russia begins a successful bombing campaign against Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) positions in Syria, US think-tanks suddenly called for American boots on the ground in the Arab Republic? The US military has some of the world’s most advanced surveillance technology, capable of identifying suspected terrorists and eliminating them with state-o [...]

Western media coverage does not accurately reflect what is happening on the Syrian battlefield, US journalist Mike Whitney wrote for the CounterPunch magazine: Damascus-led forces, assisted by Russian warplanes, have turned the tide of war and are on the way to flush Islamic radicals out of the country. Unlike America's military engagement in Afghanistan and Iraq, this process will not be a pro [...]

Russia is preparing to conduct an official military inspection in Turkey, Sergei Ryzhkov, head of Russia’s National Nuclear Risk Reduction Center, told the media. "From February 2 until February 5, a Russian team of inspectors intends to conduct an inspection of a designated area in Turkey – about 18,000 square kilometers in total – in order to promote mutual trust and security in accorda [...]

The UN-sponsored Syrian peace talks, which began on Friday in Geneva, will be boycotted by the main Syrian opposition group which has insisted that Russia stop bombing its positions while negotiations are conducted. To appreciate how ridiculous these demands are, one would have to imagine a similar scenario taking place in the United States. [...]

The United States put pressure on EU countries when it came to extending the anti-Russian sanctions, but as the situation in Europe deteriorates, the US prefers to watch from the sidelines, Austrian newspaper Kurier wrote. Washington strongly insisted on tougher measures against Moscow because it understood that the sanctions wouldn‘t affect it much, the article said. [...]

A case can be made that for Moscow it would be a tremendous waste of hard-earned foreign exchange to try to counter a rig against their currency they simply cannot beat, as the entire fiat financial power of the US is against them. Russia’s Central Bank by now should be all-out selling rubles for gold, and building Russia’s gold reserves. Well, it is happening, somewhat. [...]

As the West’s mainstream media portrays Russia as a crazy rogue state, Moscow’s thoughtful critiques of world affairs are ignored, not fitting the propaganda theme. Such was the case when Foreign Minister Lavrov explained why there would be no more “business as usual” with the West, as Gilbert Doctorow describes. On Jan. 26, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held an important year [...]

When there's a natural rapport between leaders, relationships are easy. In such an atmosphere, negotiating is a doddle. Of course, when the opposite is the case, the reverse often happens. Small disagreements can explode into furious arguments. [...]

Moscow has denied Turkey’s accusation that a Russian Su-34 bomber violated its airspace on Friday. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that Ankara couldn’t have determined which country the jet belonged to under the circumstances they described. He stressed that the airspace controlling radar stations that Turkey has can only determine the altitude, flight line, and speed of an aerial vehi [...]

Police said 11,000 people have gathered in the Moldovan capital on Sunday for anti-government protests, disputing organizers' estimates of 100,000 demonstrators. CHISINAU (Sputnik) – Supporters of center-right and left-wing parties took to the streets to voice opposition to the appointment of a new prime minister and to call for snap elections. [...]

Pretty much all that Americans – and much of the West – get to hear about Russian President Putin is heavy-handed propaganda often read over images of him riding shirtless on a horse. He’s either a bully or a buffoon. But editors of a popular German newspaper encountered a much more sophisticated figure, writes Gilbert Doctorow. I was hesitant to write about Vladimir Putin’s recent inte [...]

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership between the US and EU will bring Europe more problems than benefits, Bulgarian economist Nina Djulgerova told Radio Sputnik. The critics of the TTIP have long instated that US companies will make trade negotiations instrumental in their attempts to alter European economic laws. [...]

American business magnate and investor George Soros no longer views Russia as an enemy of the EU and is now openly calling on Brussels to cooperate with Moscow, German newspaper Deutsche Wirtschafts Nachrichten (DWN) wrote. According to him, the European Union may soon collapse due [...]

According to Seymour Hersh, one of America’s best-known investigative journalists, the US recognizes Russia’s military success in Syria. Russians have acted in a very professional manner and managed to strengthen the Syrian Army, while US policy in the region has remained inconsistent [...]

Vladimir Putin's first big interview of the year was with Germany's leading newspaper Bild. Nikolaus Blome, Bild's deputy editor-in-chief who spoke to the Russian president, told Deutsche Welle that he was "happy with the result" and shared what impressed him the most. "Although I was aware of that, I was still surprised by how well [Putin] speaks German and understands the subtleties of the la [...]

The Kremlin has found a new ally in the Kurds during its anti-terrorist campaign in Syria. They are effective in pushing Daesh (ISIS/ISIL) and other terrorist groups out of key areas in Syria, French political journalist Olivier d’Auzon wrote for Le Huffington Post. Turkey's decision to shoot down a Russian Su-24 bomber in November made Moscow furious; in turn, the Kremlin decided to support [...]

Washington's constant attempts to impose its own vision of an ideal state system on Moscow are a huge mistake. While it might be acceptable to more modest, smaller countries, it is not to be tolerated by such a heavyweight, according to Matt Rojansky, Director of the Kennan Institute. [...]

The price may vary depending on the exchange rate of the national currency. The cost of a single dose of the Russian vaccine against the Ebola virus is approximately $160, the director of the Gamaleya Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology said Friday. [...]

In an interview with German newspaper Die Welt, Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio admitted that he would love to play Vladimir Putin onscreen if provided with such an opportunity. Dicaprio said that for him bringing the image of the Russian president onscreen would be a ‘very, very interesting task.’ [...]