In startling reversal, president now says that children and schools matter more than a Mexican border wall of questionable value. Donald Trump has seen the folly of his proposal to spend $25 billion on a wall that no one wants — not the residents of the U.S. states that border Mexico, not Republican leaders in his own party, certainly no Democrats and, of course, not America’s ally and tra [...]

Russia, Turkey, Iran, and Syria need to team up in order to clear terrorists from Syria, Turkish political analyst Bora Bayraktar told Sputnik, adding that the US military buildup in the region, as well as the threat of the creation of independent Kurdish entities, allow for new regional alliances to blossom. [...]

Ankara’s decision to purchase Russian S-400 air-defense systems was prompted by the reluctance of its NATO allies, primarily the US, to sell advanced weaponry to Turkey, Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu has said. [...]

Moon Jae-in turned Trump’s North Korea policy upside down with a master class in diplomacy. President Donald Trump’s decision to agree to a historic face-to-face meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un can be traced back to the savvy politicking of another leader entirely: South Korean President Moon Jae-in. [...]

On February 27, US Army General Joseph Votel blamed Russia for “playing both arsonist and firefighter, fueling tensions among all parties in Syria… then serving as an arbitrator, to resolve disputes, attempting to undermine and weaken each party's bargaining positions." The United States has always introduced itself as a Messiah with the responsibility to protect. But has anyone invited Washin [...]

A group of US lawmakers have called for strategic dialogue with Moscow. They feel that the matter is “more urgent” following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s unveiling of a number of cutting-edge weapons systems. “A US-Russia Strategic Dialogue is more urgent following President Putin’s public address on March 1st when he referred to several new nuclear weapons Russia is reportedly dev [...]

In 2002, the United States unilaterally and without consultation, withdrew from the landmark Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) Treaty. President George W. Bush noted that the treaty is “now behind us,” describing the ABM Treaty as a Cold War relic. Signed in 1972, the ABM Treaty barred both the US and the USSR from deploying national defences against long-range ballistic missiles. The treaty was [...]

Putin declares that the long US attempt to gain nuclear superiority over Russia has failed and hopes Washington will “listen now.” By: Stephen F. Cohen, professor emeritus of Russian Studies and Politics at NYU and Princeton, and John Batchelor continue their (usually) weekly discussions of the new US-Russian Cold War. Tales of the New Cold War: PART 1 of 2: The New MAD [...]

Rex Tillerson’s criticism in Ethiopia of China’s policy in Africa is inappropriate, says Russia’s Sergey Lavrov. From Zimbabwe, Lavrov slammed the US for interfering in other countries’ affairs, pursuing neo-imperialist ambitions. [...]

European and Chinese officials are firing shots across America’s bow over plans by the Trump administration to impose protectionist tariffs on its steel and aluminum imports. A trade war looms as a result. President Donald Trump is expected to set tariffs of 25 percent on imported steel and 10 percent on imported aluminum this week. [...]

The Pentagon may not be surprised by the new Russian hypersonic missiles – but why not use them as a pitch for more money? A military budget about 10 times that of Russia is not enough, according to the DARPA director. Asked by a gathering of journalists on Thursday if the United States is spending enough on its own hypersonic missile program, Steven Walker, the director of the Pentagon’s Defe [...]

Pondering the implications of America's new nuclear doctrine, outlined in the 2018 Nuclear Posture Review document released earlier this month, political observer Rostislav Ishchenko explained why a careful reading of the doctrine shows that America is losing its global geopolitical preponderance. On first glance, there doesn't seem to be anything really extraordinary about the new doctrine, Ish [...]

In case US President Donald Trump doesn’t back down on his decision to impose stiff tariffs on aluminum and steel imports, European Union (EU) is set to implement retaliatory restrictions, including a 25 percent tariff on US jeans. Last week Trump announced the imposition of 25 percent tariffs on EU exports of steel and 10 percent on aluminum, adding that similar restrictions would be placed on [...]

Work requirements, time limits, and drug testing could significantly shrink America’s largest health insurer. A dozen states are applying for or entertaining work requirements and other restrictions on Medicaid — putting the lifeline for millions of poor Americans at risk. [...]

"I don’t know anybody who thinks that trade wars are something you win." Historically, the United States has focused on staying out of trade wars. Not so under President Donald Trump, who last week announced plans to slap sweeping tariffs on steel and aluminum imports and asserted that trade wars are good and easy to win. [...]

Last week President Putin said, during his annual address to the Federal Assembly, that Russia has developed an invincible new cruise missile and warned that any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies will be viewed as a nuclear attack and would trigger an immediate response from Moscow. [...]

In one short, simple sentence written some years ago, US scholar and Russia expert Stephen F Cohen got to the heart of the matter: “The Cold War ended in Moscow, but not in Washington.” This indispensable context is how the section of Russian President Vladimir Putin's March 1, 2018, address to the Russian Federal Assembly, dealing with foreign policy and security, has to be understood. [...]

Last week, US President Donald Trump had threatened to impose a tax on European cars and to introduce 25 percent import tariffs on steel and 10 percent tariffs on aluminum. "It is important in this context that the European Union reacts swiftly and proportionately within the WTO and in respect to the WTO," French President Emmanuel Macron told journalists. [...]

The Russian Defense Ministry has responded to the US accusations that Russia allegedly violates the UN Security Council resolution on the ceasefire in Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta. False US claims on "hospital bombing" in Ghouta came after Syrian troops repelled pro-US groups, the Russian Defense Ministry said. [...]

While Washington ostensibly supports the peaceful resolution of the Ukraine-Donbass conflict, new revelations - if true - do not add to these claims and on the contrary seem to be in sync with the approval of US weapons to Kiev. The Swiss newspaper Le Temps has reported about scores of US and Canadian instructors training Ukrainian servicemen at the former Soviet firing range Yavorov in wester [...]

Gevorg Mirzayan, a foreign policy and politics expert, detailed why many in the United States will have difficulty understanding Russian President Vladimir Putin’s true message.  The world's media keeps discussing Vladimir Putin's recent address to the Federal Assembly, in which the head of the state presented a number of new Russian weapons. [...]

Major General Qassem Soleimani, senior commander of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' Quds Force, has provided the country's Foreign Ministry with documents proving US collaboration with Daesh beyond a shadow of a doubt, Iranian media has reported. Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, special advisor on international affairs to Iran's speaker of parliament, said he had a meeting with Soleimani and received t [...]