Tag Archives: Putin

When Mohamad first got the text message offering him up to $10 million for information about attempts to interfere with the U.S. election, he thought it was “some kind of cyber attack.” But when the Tehran-based software developer logged on to Twitter he realized he was one of an unknown …

A Russian diplomat said on Monday a group of more than 30 suspected Russian mercenaries detained in Belarus last week were only passing through Minsk and were on their way to an unnamed Latin American state. Belarusian authorities have said they suspect the men entered their country to plot “acts …

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkey’s Recep Tayyip Erdogan in a phone call Monday called for peace talks to end clashes between Armenia and Azerbaijan, the Kremlin said. The phone call at Turkey’s initiative took place after Armenia’s military said one of its soldiers was killed by sniper fire from …

The Russian defence ministry said it had sent a Su-27 fighter plane on Monday to intercept a U.S. surveillance plane over the Black Sea that it said was approaching the Russian border. The U.S. plane, identified as a P-8 Poseidon, has changed course to move away from the Russian border, …

A long-delayed report into Russian influence in British politics will be published in the next week, parliament’s intelligence and security committee agreed on Thursday, a day after a dispute over the appointment of its chairman. The committee, which oversees the work of Britain’s intelligence community, has been in focus since …

Britain’s first sanctions will target 25 Russian nationals it says were involved in the mistreatement and death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky and 20 Saudi nationals held to be involved in the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi, the foreign ministry said on Monday. Addressing parliament, foreign minister Dominic Raab said: “The …

The illegitimate presence of U.S. forces in Syria should end immediately, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani told Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan in a video conference broadcast on Iranian state TV on Wednesday. Iran would continue its support for Syria’s legal government, Rouhani said. Source: Reuters

France’s president on Monday accused Turkey of massively importing jihadists into Libya, labeling Ankara’s intervention “criminal” and he lambasted Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambivalence towards his country’s mercenaries operating in the North African state. Ties between NATO allies France and Turkey have soured in recent weeks over Libya, Northern Syria …

Turkey on Wednesday dismissed Egypt’s proposal for a ceasefire in Libya, saying the plan aimed to save Khalifa Haftar after the collapse of his offensive to control the capital Tripoli, Hurriyet newspaper reported. Turkey supports Fayez al Serraj’s internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA), whose forces have in recent …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said he discussed the conflict in Libya with U.S. President Donald Trump in a phone call on Monday and that the two leaders agreed on “some issues” related to developments there. Turkey supports the internationally recognised government of Fayez al Serraj, whose forces have in recent …

A Russian drive to recruit Syrians to fight in Libya for militia leader Khalifa Haftar accelerated in May when hundreds of mercenaries were signed up, five Syrian opposition sources and a regional source familiar with the matter said. Private military contractor Wagner Group is conducting the hiring with Russian army …

Russia flew a batch of advanced MiG-29 fighter jets to Syria, Moscow’s embassy in Damascus said, with Syrian pilots already using the planes to conduct missions within the country’s airspace. President Vladimir Putin last week ordered Russia’s foreign and defence ministries to hold talks with its close ally, Syria, to …

Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said on Friday that a final OPEC+ oil supply pact to reduce 10 million barrels per day (bpd), which was agreed on Thursday, hinges on Mexico joining in the cuts. OPEC, Russia and other allies, a group known as OPEC+, outlined plans on Thursday to cut …

Turkey staged an attack with a combat drone against Syrian government forces in Syria’s Idlib on Thursday before a ceasefire went into effect, destroying military equipment and “neutralising” soldiers, the Turkish defense ministry said. It said the drone attack occurred around 4 p.m. (1300 GMT). Later in the day, Turkey …

Russia’s Ministry of Defence said on Wednesday that fortified rebel positions in Syria’s Idlib province had merged with Turkish observation posts, and that artillery attacks on nearby civilian areas and Russia’s air base in Syria had become daily. The allegations, made by Major-General Igor Konashenkov, are likely to increase tensions …

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Sunday that Moscow could not guarantee the safety of Turkish planes flying in Syria after Damascus said it was closing the air space over the Idlib region, the TASS news agency reported. The ministry issued the warning after Turkey shot down two Syrian warplanes …

Turkey and Russia are discussing opening Russian-controlled air space in Syria’s Idlib region for armed and unarmed drones, Turkish Defence Minister Hulusi Akar was quoted as saying on Thursday, but he added that problems over the issue persisted. Speaking to reporters in parliament, Akar said Ankara was “hopeful” about ongoing …

The United Nations reiterated its appeal on Friday for a halt to hostilities in northwest Syria, saying it feared that the violence “may end in a bloodbath”. Some 60% of the 900,000 people who have fled but are trapped in a shrinking space are children, OCHA spokesman Jens Laerke told …

The leaders of Germany and France called Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday to express their concern about the humanitarian situation in Syria’s Idlib region, urging an end to the conflict there, a German spokesman said. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Emmanuel Macron spoke together by phone with …

Russia on Wednesday accused Turkey of flouting agreements it had made with Moscow on Syria and of aggravating the situation in Idlib where Syrian forces have made gains in their campaign to eliminate the last insurgent bastion in a nine-year-old war. That offensive has fueled violence in Idlib, in northwest …

Turkish forces have hit 115 Syrian government targets and destroyed 101 of them in retaliation for an attack that killed five Turkish soldiers in Syria’s rebel-held northwest, the Turkish Defense Ministry said on Monday. The ministry said Turkish forces would continue to retaliate any attacks on its troops, which have …

Libya’s warring leaders held indirect peace talks in Moscow on Monday with Russia and Turkey urging the rivals to sign a binding truce to end a nine-month-old war and pave the way for a settlement that would stabilize the North African country. The Russo-Turkish push, which appeared to involve laborious …

Russia has promised Ankara that the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia, which Turkey’s military is targeting, will not be in the Syrian territories across the border, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was quoted as saying on Thursday. Russia “promised that the PKK or YPG will not be on the other side …

America’s On-Off relationship with Turkey once again took a 180 degree turn as President Trump moved several dozen US Special Forces from the Turkish-Kurdish controlled Syrian border so Turkish military forces could enter Syria in what Turkey calls “Operation Peace Spring.” The Kurds, key US allies in defeating ISIS in …

By Damir Nazarov   While Erdogan seeks to hold meetings with Putin and sometimes Rouhani in relation to Syria every two months, the Turkish occupants are actively pursuing a policy of assimilation of the Syrian cities captured during two interventions. For example, on the twelfth of February, the deputy governor of …

Russia has agreed with Saudi Arabia to extend by six to nine months a deal with OPEC on reducing oil production, Russian President Vladimir Putin said. Putin, speaking after talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, told a news conference the deal would be extended in its current form …

Russia has military intelligence that shows that a U.S. drone was in Iranian air space when it was shot down by Iran last week, Nikolai Patrushev, Secretary of Russia’s Security Council, said on Tuesday. Speaking at a briefing for journalists in Jerusalem, Patrushev said evidence presented by the United States …

President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Russia had differences with OPEC over what constituted a fair price for oil, but that Moscow would take a joint decision on output with OPEC colleagues at a policy meeting in the coming weeks. Putin said a price of $60-$65 a barrel suited Moscow, …

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan told his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin that the ceasefire in Syria’s Idlib must be implemented to prevent more civilian deaths and an influx of refugees to Turkey, a statement from Erdogan’s office said. Erdogan told Putin over the phone on Thursday that Syria needed a political …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Sunday it made sense for a powerful economic bloc like the European Union to want to defend itself militarily. The comments came after U.S. President Donald Trump fired off a tweet as he arrived in Paris on Friday in which he described a call …

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned Wednesday that if the United States deploys intermediate-range missiles in Europe, Russia will have to target the nations that would host them. The stern statement follows U.S. President Donald Trump‘s announcement over the weekend that he intends to opt out of a 1987 nuclear arms control pact over …

White House National Security Advisor John Bolton met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, finishing a two-day visit to Moscow by confirming that the U.S. will pull out of a landmark arms-control agreement with Russia, rejecting appeals from Russia and European countries not to do so. Sitting down with …

British defense minister Gavin Williamson said the “true identity” of one of the suspects in a nerve agent attack on a former Russian spy in Salisbury had been revealed, apparently confirming media reports that the suspect was a Russian colonel. Earlier this month, British prosecutors charged two Russians – Alexander …

President Vladimir Putin appeared to take another thinly veiled swipe at Trump’s economic policies on Wednesday, a day after Russia and China vowed to stand together to fight protectionism. “The world and global economy are coming up against new forms of protectionism today with different kinds of barriers which are …

In a striking anonymous broadside, a senior Trump administration official wrote an opinion piece in The New York Times on Wednesday claiming to be part of a group of people “working diligently from within” to impede President Donald Trump’s “worst inclinations” and ill-conceived parts of his agenda. Trump said it …

The Nord Stream II gas pipeline from Russia to Germany and into the European network seems to be on course despite US pressure and challenges from Ukraine and other European countries. While all this is going on, construction of another pipeline is underway to supply Turkey and Europe with gas. …

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday it had made U.S. actor Steven Seagal its special representative for Russian-U.S. humanitarian ties, a role it said was meant to deepen cultural, art and youth ties between the two countries. President Vladimir Putin presented a Russian passport to U.S. actor Steven Seagal in …

Russia will deploy its military police on the Golan Heights frontier between Syria and Israel, its defense ministry said on Thursday, after weeks of mounting volatility in the area. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s sweeping away of rebels in southwestern Syria has worried Israel, which believes it could allow his Iranian …

One of the main deals announced between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his U.S. counterpart Donald Trump at their summit last week in Helsinki — coordinated steps to help stabilize the situation in Syria — is already running into trouble. Facing a storm of criticism in Washington of their meeting, …

Russian President Vladimir Putin gave President Donald Trump an Adidas soccer ball during a news conference last week in Helsinki, Finland — and the ball may have contained a transmitter chip. Images of the ball Putin handed to Trump appear to show a logo indicating it has a chip included …

The leader of South Ossetia, a Russian-backed breakaway region of Georgia, met Moscow’s ally Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in Damascus on Monday, Syrian state media reported. South Ossetia’s President Anatoly Bibilov is on a three-day visit to Syria two months after Damascus recognized his country’s independence, the Syrian state news agency SANA reported. South Ossetia and Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in wars in …

The FBI on Saturday night released the surveillance records from the wiretap on Carter Page, a onetime Trump campaign aide whose surveillance by the FBI was at the center of a declassified Republican memo released in February by House Intelligence Committee Republicans. The documents released were once classified as top secret. The …

France sent 50 tonnes of medical aid to government-controlled eastern Ghouta in Syria on Friday after Russia agreed to facilitate its delivery, raising hopes for future aid efforts, French officials said. The aid, which will arrive on a Russian plane to a Russian military base in north-western Syria from France …

FBI Director Christopher Wray said Wednesday that he stands by the U.S. intelligence agencies’ assessment that Russia interfered in the 2016 election, and he warned that the Kremlin has not stopped trying to undermine American democracy. “My view has not changed, which is that Russia attempted to interfere with the …