Japanese Prime Minister, who is en route to Moscow for summit talks with Russian President, is leaning toward accepting a postwar peace treaty between the two countries if two of the Russian-controlled four islands claimed by Japan are handed over, Japanese government sources said. Shinzo Abe, hoping to reach a broad agreement on the peace […]

Japan’s Foreign Ministry declared a note of protest to Russia over detention of two Japanese fishing boats by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) near the Kuril Islands, Kyodo news agency reported on Thursday. A representative of the Japanese Foreign Ministry said the actions of the Russian side are “unacceptable.” According to Kyodo, Russian border guards […]

The United States has not provided Russia with specific proof to substantiate its claims that the ground-launched SSC-8 cruise missile (Russian designation 9M729) violated the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov told Sputnik. “We fulfill the contract in full, without exemptions, without exceptions, without deviations from the requirements. Our 9M729 system has never been tested for a […]

 Iranian actor Mehdi Mahani won Moscow Indie Film Festival’s Best Matrioshka Actor in a Leading Role award for his performance in ‘Supine’ directed by Shahram Asadzadeh. The Best Matrioshka Actor in a Leading Role award at the December edition of Moscow Indie Film Festival went to Iranian actor Mehdi Mahani for his performance in ‘Supine’, […]

 Hossein Jaberi Ansari, a senior advisor to the Iranian foreign minister for political affairs, held meetings with a number of Russian officials in Moscow on Thursday, discussing the latest developments surrounding Syria. He held separate meetings with Russian Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Vasilyevich Fomin, Middle East director Sergei Vershinin, and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, […]

The United States will continue its policy of harsh sanctions against Russia, US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said. “I would just comment that this administration has been tougher on Russia and has done more Russian sanctions than before, we will continue to do this,” he told reporters after a closed-door briefing for members of the […]

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he would seek maximum progress while discussing the issue of sovereignty over the Southern Kuril Islands with Russian President Vladimir Putin. “I will visit Russia this month to hold negotiations. However, you always have negotiation partners, so I cannot make any forecasts about the outcome. But my hope is […]

 A US delegation has tried to convince Turkey to give up on purchasing the Russian missile systems during the visit to Ankara earlier this week. However, the Turkish authorities reportedly rejected the offer since it did not include a discount on the price set or a transfer of technology. The Anadolu news agency reported on […]

 An American author and former diplomat has highlighted reasons behind President Donald Trump’s recent decision to pull U.S. troops out of Syria, saying Trump “could see no way of overcoming Iranian and Russian aid” to the Damascus government. “Naturally, President Trump could see no way of overcoming Iranian and Russian aid; that help obviously proved […]

The Russia-Turkey-Iran summit on Syria will be held in Russia in early 2019, a Russian diplomat announced Friday. The leaders of the Astana trio (Russia, Turkey and Iran) will meet in Russia at the beginning of 2019, Russian Special Presidential Envoy for the Middle East and Africa and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov told reporters […]