Tag Archives: Russia

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 …

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 …

Iran is ready to help Ankara and Damascus resolve their disputes, the Iranian Foreign Ministry said on Saturday. In a meeting between the visiting United Nations’ special envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, and Iranian officials, Tehran underlined the importance of resolving issues in Syria through diplomacy, it said on its …

German chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday repeated a call for all parties to respect the Iranian nuclear accord, despite Iran’s decision to intensify its enrichment of uranium and moves by the United States to impose economic sanctions. Under a deal brokered in 2015, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of …

Russia, backed by China, on Friday cast its 14th U.N. Security Council veto since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011 to block cross-border aid deliveries from Turkey and Iraq to millions of Syrian civilians. The resolution, drafted by Belgium, Kuwait and Germany, would have allowed cross-border humanitarian deliveries …

A U.S. Senate committee backed legislation on Wednesday to impose sanctions on Turkey after its offensive in Syria and purchase of a Russian S-400 missile system, the latest move in the chamber to push Republican President Donald Trump to take a harder line against Ankara. The Republican-led Senate Foreign Relations …

The Dubai Business Women Council, DBWC, and a high-level European delegation yesterday discussed ways to foster cooperation and develop networking mechanisms with business communities. The business delegation, comprising 11 businesspersons representing some of the most prominent start-ups in Europe, including France, Germany, Russia, the United Kingdom, Estonia and Italy, was …

Russian President Vladimir Putin plans to discuss Iran’s nuclear deal and situation in the Strait of Hormuz with Iranian President Hassan Rouhani at their bilateral meeting in Armenia on Tuesday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. Source: Reuters

Saudi Aramco has booked at least 120,000 tonnes of naphtha for September loading from Europe in a rare move as it seeks to plug a supply gap following attacks on its oil facilities on Saturday, industry sources said. Data from Refinitiv Oil Research shows that Aramco chartered vessel British Resolution …

Interview with Turkish journalist, political scientist and publicist Musa Ozugurlu. In 2010, he started working as TRT Turk’s representative in Syria. He is one of the few foreign journalists in Syria to follow the process, which began in 2011, on-site until 2016. He currently presents the weekly program “Media critical” …

Russia’s air force helped the Syrian army to repel attacks carried out by militants in the Idlib province on Sunday, TASS news agency reported on Monday, citing a senior defense ministry official. Militants carried out two attacks on Syrian government forces’ positions using tanks and armored vehicles on July 28, …

Britain’s media regulator fined Russia’s RT 200,000 pounds ($248,740) for breaching broadcasting impartiality rules in its coverage of the poisoning of former spy Sergei Skripal, the policies of Ukraine and the conflict in Syria. Relations between London and Moscow sank to a post-Cold War low over the 2018 poisoning of …

President Vladimir Putin of Russia will speak at the Plenary Session of the second Global Manufacturing and Industrialisation Summit, GMIS, a join initiative by the UAE Ministry of Energy and Industry and the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation, UNIDO, which will take place from 9th to 11th July 2019 in …

At least 544 civilians have been killed and over 2,000 people injured since a Russian-led assault on the last rebel bastion in northwestern Syria began two months ago, rights groups and rescuers said on Saturday. Russian jets joined the Syrian army on April 26 in the biggest offensive against parts …

By Graham E. Fuller | Is American foreign policy,  so long drifting towards collapse and irrelevance, about to be revolutionized? An article written by veteran journalist Stephen Kinzer in the Boston Globe today contains exciting news with revolutionary implications for US foreign policy, America’s place in the world, and a …

H.H. Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, met with Maksim Oreshkin, Russian Minister of Economic Development. During the meeting, which was held as part of Sheikh Abdullah’s official visit to Russia, both sides discussed the joint bilateral relations between their countries and the …

NATO urged Russia on Tuesday to destroy a new missile before an August deadline and save a treaty that keeps land-based nuclear warheads out of Europe or face a more determined alliance response in the region. NATO defense ministers will discuss on Wednesday their next steps if Moscow keeps the …

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday that a U.S. military attack on Iran would be a catastrophe for the Middle East that would trigger a surge in violence and a possible refugee exodus. Putin, speaking during his annual televised question and answer session, said Moscow believed Tehran was in …

Sanad Aerotech, a leading maintenance, repair and overhaul (MRO) service provider for aero engines and industrial gas turbines that is wholly owned by Mubadala Investment Company PJSC (Mubadala), is expanding its network of international customers. The Abu Dhabi-based business has announced maintenance agreements Russian Nordwind and Bulgarian BH Air, two …

Russia told the United States on Tuesday to drop what it called provocative plans to deploy more troops to the Middle East and to cease actions that looked like a conscious attempt to provoke war with Iran. The comments, from Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to Russian news agencies, followed …

Iran’s oil minister is scheduled to meet his Russian counterpart in Iran later on Monday, industry sources said, raising hopes of progress in resolving a month-long impasse over when OPEC and its allies will hold their next policy gathering. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and partners including Russia, …

Russia on Thursday warned against rushing to attribute blame for a suspected attack on oil tankers in the Gulf of Oman, and said the incident should not be used to stoke tensions with Tehran, Russia’s RIA news agency reported. Two oil tankers were attacked, leaving one ablaze and both adrift, …

Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed said he discussed regional and international issues with Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call on Monday. A tweet from the crown prince gave no details. Tensions in the Middle East have risen as the United States has stepped up pressure …

The United States has decided to stop accepting any additional Turkish pilots who planned to come to the United States to train on F-35 fighter jets, U.S. officials say, in a clear sign of the escalating dispute over Ankara’s plans to purchase Russian air defenses. The two NATO allies have …

OPEC is close to agreeing to extend an oil supply-cutting agreement beyond June, Saudi Arabia’s energy minister said on Friday, though the question is how to accommodate participating non-OPEC countries. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, Russia and other non-members agreed in December to reduce supply by 1.2 million …

H.H. Sheikh Hamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Chief of the Abu Dhabi Crown Prince’s Court, is participating in the St Petersburg International Economic Forum 2019 (SPIEF), being held here on June 6th-8th. Sheikh Hamed attended the event’s inaugural session, which was addressed by President Vladimir Putin in the presence of …

Igor Sechin, CEO of Russian oil giant Rosneft, accused the United States of using energy as a political weapon and said on Thursday that the U.S. golden age of energy had become an “era of energy colonialism” for other countries. Speaking at an economic forum in St Petersburg, Sechin said …

A Russian fighter jet made a dangerous high-speed pass that put a U.S. Navy surveillance aircraft at risk during an intercept over the Mediterranean Sea on Tuesday, the U.S. Sixth Fleet said, but Moscow said its pilot had behaved responsibly. “While the Russian aircraft was operating in international airspace, this …

The Kremlin on Monday rebuffed criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump of Russian and Syrian government military action in Syria’s Idlib province, saying it was justified. Trump on Sunday urged Russia and Syrian government forces to stop bombing Idlib, following a Friday Kremlin statement that signaled Moscow would continue to …

By Emad El-Din Aysha, PhD   What can I say about Ammar Al-Masry’s Throne of Atlantis, the long awaited sequel to Shadows of Atlantis? It’s a mind-boggling treat! To remind those who have forgotten, myself included, here is a summary. In Shadows of Atlantis you have a near perfect world …

The United States has moved to disrupt an Iranian-Russian network that sent millions of barrels of oil to Syria and hundreds of millions of dollars to indirectly fund militant groups Hamas and Hezbollah. The complicated arrangement, described by the U.S. Treasury in a statement on Tuesday, involved a Syrian citizen allegedly using his Russia-based …

Saudi energy minister Khalid al-Falih said on Monday the kingdom had launched a uranium exploration program and initial indications were positive, Al-Arabiya Business reported on Twitter. Falih added that a project to construct two nuclear plants, was proceeding at an excellent pace according to plan, according to Al-Arabiya. No further …

Russia, Turkey, and Iran will hold the next round of talks on Syria on Nov. 28-29 in Kazakhstan, Kazakh foreign minister Kairat Abdrakhmanov said on Monday. Delegations of the Damascus government and the Syrian rebels are also set to attend, Abdrakhmanov told reporters. Source: Reuters

The U.S. Defense Department has delivered a report to Congress detailing implications of Turkey receiving 100 F-35 fighter jets, five people familiar with the report said, removing a key hurdle to concluding the deal. Turkey’s planned purchase of the Russian-made S-400 missile defense system has raised concerns in the West, …

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 Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Tuesday that U.S. sanctions on Iran were not legitimate, in Moscow’s first official comment since Washington restored sanctions on Tehran. Lavrov said Moscow, itself a target of separate U.S. sanctions, expected there would be ways to pursue economic cooperation with Iran despite the …

Russia has quietly invited a group of senior Afghan politicians to talks with the Taliban in Moscow, bypassing President Ashraf Ghani’s government in a move that has angered officials in Kabul who say it could muddle the U.S.-backed peace process. The invitations, extended over the past two months by Russian …

Russia’s only aircraft carrier was damaged while undergoing repairs in the north of the country after the floating dock holding it sank in the early hours of Tuesday and a crane crashed onto its deck, tearing a gash up to 5 meters wide. The Admiral Kuznetsov has seen action in …

The United States will do what it deems necessary, including considering more sanctions, to address Russia’s interference in its elections and its annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea, US National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Friday. He said it would be helpful if Russia got out of Ukraine’s Crimea and eastern …

An Emirates A380 aircraft yesterday landed in Russia’s northern capital, St. Petersburg. Welcomed at 20:50 local time at Pulkovo International Airport (LED), this is the first time the aircraft has landed in St. Petersburg. A welcome ceremony was held at the airport in attendance of Vadim Besperstov, Emirates Manager for …

President Donald Trump has warned that the US will bolster its nuclear arsenal to put pressure on Russia and China. Speaking to reporters, he repeated his belief that Russia has violated the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which he has threatened to leave. Russia denies this. The Cold War-era …

Former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev says US President Trump’s plan to withdraw from a key Cold War nuclear weapons treaty is a reversal of efforts to achieve nuclear disarmament. Mr Gorbachev – who signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty with President Reagan in 1987 – questioned the plan’s intelligence. …

A plan to avert an offensive by the Assad government against the last major rebel-held area in Syria stumbled Monday when the main extremist group failed to leave a proposed buffer zone as part of a deal to demilitarize the region. However, Russia may still prevent Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad from launching an …

A capsule carrying the two crew members of a Russian Soyuz rocket that malfunctioned on lift-off has landed safely in Kazakhstan. Russian Cosmonaut Alexey Ovchinin and US astronaut Nick Hague are reported to be “in good condition”, both Nasa and Russian media said. Search and rescue teams are now en …