Russian President Vladimir Putin’s high-profile meeting with Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran on November 23 has triggered speculationthat the two sides are weighing some serious policy choices about Syria. The key question, as always, is the fate of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. There is no …

Trita Parsi A senior German official told me in 2010, quite proudly, that under the leadership of Angela Merkel, Germany’s Iran policy had become a function of its relations with Israel. Whether Germany would sanction Iran or engage in diplomacy very much depended on Israel’s reaction. In its …

President Vladimir Putin is actively misinforming his domestic audience and the international community about Russia’s first military intervention outside the former Soviet Union since its 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. Putin has created a false narrative about the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) to disguise the true objectives …

Moscow isn’t likely to bomb Turkish military facilities, but it has other ways of undermining Ankara’s presence in Syria: Russia is now aiding Kurdish rebels — a group that has been labeled as “terrorists” by Turkey. The Syrian Kurdish forces (YPG) are considered extremely valuable in the fight against ISIS. …

Entering the Syrian conflict, Moscow has faced the challenge posed both by Daesh and its covert backers, Canadian Professor Michael Jabara Carley notes; he questions whether French President Hollande has the guts to escape Washington’s “spider web” and join Russia’s coalition in Syria. Professor Michael Jabara Carley of the …

In what might come as a surprise, Zbigniew Brzezinski, a prominent geopolitical strategist and a former National security advisor, downplayed tensions between the United States and Russia, as well as between Moscow and Ankara after the Su-24 bomber was shot out of the Syrian skies by the Turkish …

A difficult question is arising for German Chancellor Angela Merkel before her meeting with Turkish leader Recer Tayyip Erdogan – should Europe deal with a country which buys oil from terrorists? Politicians with principles should have cancelled the meeting, German media reported.  EU leaders are expected to meet with the …

The inclusion of the yuan in the IMF’s basket of world currencies reflects the challenges that face the euro and the dollar, French economist Jacques Sapir told Sputnik. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced on Monday that it will include the yuan in its basket of currencies that make up the Special …

The Russian military will receive five new regimental units of S-400 Triumf anti-aircraft missile systems in 2016, according to arms manufacturer Almaz-Antey. “Thanks to the efficient work of our employees, we are completing most of our government contracts ahead of schedule. According to our plans for 2016, the company will provide Russia’s Ministry of Defense …