The US is withdrawing from the "optional protocol" in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, John Bolton has confirmed. He said it follows a case brought by Palestine, challenging the US embassy's move to Jerusalem. [...]

The US has lost its credibility since Donald Trump unleashed a global trade war, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said, slamming Washington for sanctioning Turkey and trying to isolate Iran. “The US has embarked on a false path of solving political problems not through negotiations, but through the language of blackmail and threats,” Erdogan told the Turkish parliament on Monday. [...]

US President Donald Trump left the UN Security Council session he was chairing before it was over, leaving Nikki Haley in charge and sparking speculation about his whereabouts among the press. Around quarter after noon on Wednesday, after roughly two hours of speeches and declarations, Trump left the Security Council chambers with his security detail, letting his UN envoy Haley take over. [...]

The Pentagon will remove four batteries of PAC-3 Patriot missiles from three Middle-Eastern countries, according to the Wall Street Journal. The report said the missiles are needed elsewhere to counter China and Russia. [...]

If you can’t get them to keep quiet, ignore them, appears to be the playbook currently in use by OPEC. Tweets by US President Donald Trump demanding that OPEC boost its oil output as a means of lowering prices worldwide have been met with silence by the global fossil-fuel energy bloc. [...]

The US is looking to establish a permanent US military base in Poland. This is what President Donald Trump said on Tuesday following a meeting with Polish President Andrzej Duda at the White House. Sputnik discussed the potential establishment of a military base in Poland with Rick Rozoff - manager of the Stop NATO website. [...]

China has canceled the visit of its Navy commander to the US, in response to the sanctions imposed by Washington against Beijing over its military cooperation with Russia, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense said. On Thursday, the US State Department imposed sanctions against Beijing’s defense procurement agency, the Equipment Development Department (EED), for its “significant transaction [...]

The tax and trade policies of Donald Trump are, in fact, what have contributed to the surge in oil prices, a US economics professor told RT, adding that the US President’s tough words to OPEC are a political stunt. On Thursday, Trump accused OPEC’s Middle East producers of “pushing for higher and higher oil prices” and demanded “they stop it,” adding that the US is “protecting those [...]

China has hit back at US attempts to force it out of multiple billion-dollar arms deals with Russia, with a defense spokesperson stating that Washington has “no right to interfere” in the dealings of two sovereign states. Wu Qian’s comments come after the US State Department imposed sanctions on Thursday against Beijing’s defense procurement agency, the Equipment Development Department (EE [...]

Washington has promised to increase pressure on Venezuela in the coming days, with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo vowing to take a "series of actions" against the government of Nicolas Maduro in the “best interest” of Venezuelans. [...]

Donald Trump has threatened to impose even more tariffs on Chinese goods if Beijing dares to impose tit-for-tat measures in response to Washington’s latest package of levies targeting some $200 billion of Chinese exports. [...]

Wall Street bankers, company executives and crisis management consultants say being labeled ‘anti-American’ will become a new crucial business risk under Donald Trump’s presidency, Reuters reports. Trump’s Twitter posts and public rebuke of major companies like Boeing, Lockheed Martin and General Motors have made other companies worry they may be next, according to businesses polled by the [...]

Trade wars between the United States and China could benefit Russia, according to the Russian Economic Development Minister Maksim Oreshkin. With tariffs growing, Russia could substitute American goods in China and India. These trade wars, these difficult relations between the United States and its trading partners is, first of all, an opportunity that opens on those markets. [...]

A new Taliban video shows insurgents openly celebrating the capture of an Afghan army base. It is the latest example of the inability of Afghan security forces to defend themselves against Taliban assaults. Continued battlefield catastrophes call into question [...]

After the US imposed sanctions on China for buying a Russian air defense system, Saudi Arabia, which is in talks to purchase it as well, hopes it won't suffer the same fate. It is, after all, one of Washington's best friends. [...]

The US dollar system has completely discredited itself and the confidence in the greenback is falling very sharply, according to the Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. Sanctions by Washington are a sign of that. Russia is working on ways to cut its dependence on the US and the dollar system, Lavrov said Friday during his visit to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. [...]

Beijing has threatened that Washington will face “consequences” if it doesn’t withdraw the recent batch of sanctions against China over military cooperation with Russia. China’s Foreign Ministry did not mince words, saying Washington should immediately correct its “mistakes” before it’s too late or face the consequences for the decision. [...]

Alibaba’s executive chairman Jack Ma has said that his promise to Donald Trump to create one million jobs in the US is no longer valid and viable after Washington slapped Beijing with new round of tariffs on $200bn worth of goods. [...]

US President Donald Trump has accused OPEC’s Middle East producers of “pushing for higher and higher oil prices.” Trump, who is a proponent of cheap crude, has told OPEC countries they would not be safe for long without the US. [...]

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has authorized the addition of 33 Russian defense and intelligence officials and entities to the ever-growing US sanctions list and also targeted a Chinese military entity for buying Russian arms. [...]

In early August, the United States announced a new round of sanctions against Russia over its alleged involvement in the poisoning of former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter Yulia in UK's Salisbury in March. US President Donald Trump has given the Department of Treasury the authority, under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), to impose sanctions on Russia, the White [...]

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States on September 24 plans to sign in Vienna the certification that will allow Russian surveillance aircraft to operate in US territory under the Open Skies Treaty, a State Department official told Sputnik on Wednesday. "On September 18, the United States informed all states parties via formal treaty mechanisms that it will approve the certification of the Russi [...]