OPINION

An unmanned military underwater vehicle rigged with explosives was spotted on the seabed in the vicinity of the Nord Stream gas pipeline in the Baltics on Friday, Swedish media report. The device is expected to be disarmed on November 9. An abandoned expendable remotely-operated mine clearance underwater vehicle …

By Daniel Byman CNN and other media are reporting that U.S. and European intelligence suspect that ISIS or one of its affiliates used a bomb to bring down a Russian airplane over Sinai on Saturday, killing all 224 aboard. The reporting on this is early and it would …

The Iran nuclear deal was indeed a turning point in the balance of power in the Middle East. The impact of the deal was two folded. In reality, it gave Iran the opportunity to freeze its march towards a nuclear weapon for some 15 years, at best, in …

After weeks of avoiding public comment on Moscow’s military intervention in Syria that started Sept. 30, Jordan and Russia made a surprise announcement Oct. 23 that both countries had agreed on military coordination in Syria through a joint mechanism. The announcement was made in Vienna during a press …

Rooted deeply in the past, the Russophobia trend has been used by Western elites to pressure Russia into following their dictates, Canadian academic Michael Jabara Carley told Sputnik, adding that in 1917 the Bolsheviks became in fact the true defenders of Russia’s sovereignty and independence.  In fact Western …

The Russian passenger jet that crashed in Sinai, Egypt, must have been damaged by a force in flight and couldn’t have just broken apart, the airline of the ill-fated Airbus A321 said. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has urged an end to speculation until the investigation is complete. “It …

Head of the Russian Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) Alexander Neradko said claims that external factors may have been the reason behind the Airbus A321 crash in the Sinai Peninsula were not based on real facts so far. The Kogalymavia Airbus A-321 passenger airliner with 217 passengers and seven …

Ekaterina Blinova There is a real danger that US Special Forces deployed in Syria and embedded with the new Arab-Kurdish force will coordinate the tactics and strategy of the terrorists (also known as “moderate rebels”) on the ground, US geopolitical analyst Eric Draitser told Sputnik.  The US war …

Amid the instability and violence that have plagued the Arab and Muslim world in recent years, the international community is searching for a sustainable model of state-building in the region.  Among restive populations and civil strife, two pillars of peace and progress have emerged:  the United Arab Emirates …