WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - A group of US lawmakers led by Senator Bob Menendez told the State Department in a letter that any sale of Russian S-400 air defense system should lead to new punitive measures as stipulated in the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA). [...]

Speaking at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, commander of US Central Command Joseph Votel has specifically touched upon the situation in Syria and Russia's role there. Army general Joseph Votel, head of the US Central Command has admitted that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government forces are prevailing in the war in Syria. [...]

The speaker of the Russian lower house has said the West’s sanctions policy has been a response to Moscow's increased competitiveness, and had crashed Western plans to put a “tame and obedient” president in the Kremlin. “It is completely obvious that Russia is a very inconvenient competitor for them in many spheres, and they try to remove it from the field, often using unfair moves,” Vya [...]

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 [...]

The US-led coalition carried out airstrikes on Monday to impede the advance of pro-Damascus forces towards Syria’s oil-rich city of Deir ez-Zor, the Anadolu agency reported, citing local sources. Both Syria and the US have yet to comment on the fresh reports. [...]

Are we headed towards another world war or is a ‘long peace’ in our future? A new study has examined decades of conflicts to evaluate the likelihood of another global war.  It has been over 70 years since last major world war. Despite the multiple conflicts ongoing across the globe, there hasn’t been a large, global conflict in decades. [...]

The Pentagon will pump millions into a State Department center created to fight propaganda and disinformation campaigns waged by foreign nations, as it wants to be “on the offensive” and respond “aggressively” to attacks. The State Department announced on Monday that it had signed a memorandum with the US Department of Defense to transfer $40 million to the State’s Global Engagement Cent [...]

It’s no coincidence the US is warning against chemical weapons use by Damascus, while the most likely source of an attack would be rebels, to trigger a response against the Syrian government, says former US diplomat Jim Jatras. Amid calls for a ceasefire in eastern Ghouta, Syria, figures in Western media are accusing President Bashar Assad of launching a chemical gas attack. [...]

A new report by Syrian media about the evacuation of Daesh militants adds to the growing evidence that the US is using its aviation to assist terrorists. According to the Syrian state-run news agency SANA, the US has evacuated Daesh leaders from the Al-Shaddadah area in the northeastern al-Hasakah Governorate using its helicopters. [...]

May you live in interesting times, goes the Chinese proverb. Few can doubt that we are indeed living in such an interesting time. Big changes are afoot in the world, it seems. None more so than the collapsing of the American Empire. The US is going through an historic "correction" in the same way that the Soviet Union did some 30 years ago when the latter was confronted with the reality [...]

President Donald Trump has accused Russia, Iran and the Syrian government of causing a "humanitarian disgrace" in Syria, and said that the US military only remains in that war-torn country "for one reason: to get ISIS and get rid of ISIS and to go home." But let’s look at the facts. [...]

Citing dozens of well-documented cases of direct US interference in foreign lands is just Russian whataboutism and also very unfair, because democracy promotion is a “stated US policy,” according to the sharp sticks at MSNBC. During a not-at-all predictable discussion on MSNBC’s ‘Deadline White House’, host Nicolle Wallace pressed her guests to weigh-in on former US ambassador to Russia [...]

The Serbian breakaway of Kosovo is in the midst of two days of celebrations to mark the tenth anniversary of its declaration of independence. Speaking to Radio Sputnik, Marko Gasic, a London-based international affairs commentator and Balkans expert, explained why he felt there was really very little to celebrate. [...]

A Russian parliamentary commission has prepared a report that lists over 100 cases of US interference in other nations’ internal affairs since the end of World War Two. “We have counted approximately 100, about 101 or 102 absolutely verified and recorded facts of American involvement in the sovereign affairs of over 60 UN member-nations since the approval of this organizations’ charter that [...]

US troops must immediately shut down their zone of control in southern Syria in the area of Al-Tanf, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov suggested when asked what should be done to help the Syrian peace settlement. Lavrov was referring to an area on Syria’s border with Jordan and Iraq, which the US declared to be under its protection last year. Among other things, it contains the Rukban refug [...]

In the wake of another deadly school shooting in Florida, the lessons of past massacres in Vietnam can teach us about U.S. violence and the need to reform unchecked gun culture, discusses Lawrence Davidson. Back in October 2016 I wrote an analysis entitled “Are Humans Natural-Born Killers?” It described and commented on research on the origins of human violence published in the science jour [...]

Commenting on the claim made by the Iranian military that the US has provided direct assistance to Daesh in Afghanistan, political analyst Ahmad Wahid Mozhda told Sputnik that many Afghan politicians and ordinary Afghans are saying the same thing. According to the observer, the US's likely goal is to cause problems for the country's neighbors. [...]

It is an age-old statecraft technique to seek unity within a state by depicting an external enemy or threat. Russia is the bête noire again, as it was during the Cold War as part of the Soviet Union. But the truth is Western states are challenged by internal problems. Ironically, by denying their own internal democratic challenges, Western authorities are only hastening their institutional demis [...]

On February 20, 2014, unknown snipers shot at people gathered on Kiev’s central Maidan square killing 49 protesters and four police officers. Local opposition leaders, as well as US and EU representatives, were quick to point a finger at the "regime of Viktor Yanukovych." [...]

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump released his “efficient, effective and accountable” budget for fiscal year 2019 and, to no surprise, social programs are on the chopping block. Aside from wanting to privatize the International Space Station and eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, Trump is also looking to cut food assistance programs by $214 billion. [...]

At a time of unprecedented goodwill between Seoul and Pyongyang over the Winter Olympics, the US has decided to double down on its inflammatory rhetoric, undermining a fragile thaw on the Korean Peninsula. On the eve of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, one would be forgiven for temporarily forgetting history’s bitter divisions on the Korean Peninsula. [...]