The world is at a 'dangerous point' because of rising tensions between Russia and the US, warns former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev

October 13, 2016 (Reuters) Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has warned that the world is at a 'dangerous point' due to rising tensions between Russia and the US over Syria. Relations between the two countries are at their lowest since the Cold War and have soured in recent days after Washington pulled the plug on Syria talks and accused Russia of hacking attacks. Meanwhile the Kremlin has suspended a series of nuclear pacts, including a symbolic cooperation deal to cut stocks of weapons-grade plutonium.

Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who has warned that the world is at a 'dangerous point' due to rising tensions between Russia and the US over Syria

Mr Gorbachev, who oversaw an easing of tensions with the West that helped to end the Cold War in the early 90s, has voiced his concern. The 85-year-old told state news agency RIA Novosti: 'I think the world has reached a dangerous point. I don't want to give any concrete prescriptions but I do want to say that this needs to stop. We need to renew dialogue. Stopping it was the biggest mistake. It is necessary to return to the main priorities. These are nuclear disarmament, the fight against terrorism, the prevention of an environmental disaster. Compared to these challenges, all the rest slips into the background.'

 Mr Gorbachev's comments come as France has said they will ask the International Criminal Court's prosecutor to launch an investigation into war crimes it says have been committed by Syrian and Russian forces in eastern Aleppo, pictured

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3830485/Gorbachev-warns-dangerous-point-US-Russia-ties-sour.html#ixzz4Mww83Um9

Russia orders all officials to fly home any relatives living abroad

October 12, 2016 (Reuters) Russia is ordering all of its officials to fly home any relatives living abroad amid heightened tensions over the prospect of global war, it has been claimed. Politicians and high-ranking figures are said to have received a warning from president Vladimir Putin to bring their loved-ones home to the 'Motherland', according to local media. It comes after Putin cancelled a planned visit to France amid a furious row over Moscow's role in the Syrian conflict and just days after it emerged the Kremlin had moved nuclear-capable missiles near to the Polish border. Former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev has also warned that the world is at a 'dangerous point' due to rising tensions between Russia and the US. 

The full article is available at:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3833941/Russia-orders-officials-fly-home-relatives-living-abroad-tensions-mount-prospect-global-war.html

Russia to build permanent naval base in Syria

October 10, 2016 (Reuters) Russia will create a permanent naval base in Syria to expand its military footprint in its closest Middle East ally, a government official said on Monday, a week after Moscow said it was considering reopening Soviet-era bases in Vietnam and Cuba.

The move, announced by Russian Deputy Defence Minister Nikolai Pankov, is further evidence Russia is building up its capabilities in Syria despite a partial drawdown in March and another sign it is digging in for the long haul to help prop up President Bashar al-Assad.

"By doing this Russia is not only increasing its military potential in Syria but in the entire Middle East," Senator Igor Morozov, a member of the upper house of parliament's International Affairs Committee, told the RIA news agency.

A Reuters analysis of publicly available tracking data shows Moscow has steadily built up its forces in Syria since a ceasefire collapsed in late September, doubling supply runs by air and sea.

The base plan, which will involve upgrading and expanding an existing naval facility at the port of Tartus which Moscow leases from Syria, is part of a push to expand or create a new military presence abroad.

The Izvestia newspaper said Moscow was also in talks to open an air base in Egypt, while the state-owned Rossiskaya Gazeta daily noted that Russia has said it wants bases in Venezuela, Nicaragua, the Seychelles and Singapore too. At odds with Washington over Syria and Ukraine, Russia has engaged in a bout of saber-rattling in recent weeks, moving S-300 surface-to-air missiles to Tartus, nuclear-capable missiles to its European exclave of Kaliningrad, and reinforcing its Syria strike force. The Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday that Russian paratroopers would for the first time also take part in war games with Egyptian paratroopers on Egyptian soil this month. The full article is available at:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-russia-tartus-idUSKCN12A0W6

US State Department John Kirby warns Russia.

October 5, 2016 (TV-Novosti) US State Department spokesperson John Kirby told reporters at Wednesday’s press briefing: “Extremist groups will continue to exploit the vacuums that are there in Syria to expand their operations, which could include attacks against Russian interests, perhaps even Russian cities. Russia will continue to send troops home in body bags, and will continue to lose resources, perhaps even aircraft.”

Kirby then warned Russia, if the war in Syria continues “more Russian lives will be lost, more Russian aircraft will be shot down.”

“We are working through steps that we might have to take to begin to suspend our engagement with Russia on Syria. We haven’t taken those steps yet.”

“The message to the [Russian] Foreign Minister today was that we are perfectly willing and able to move forward on those steps that would end with the suspension of US-Russia bi-lateral engagement in Syria.” The full article is available at:

https://www.rt.com/news/361032-zakharova-kirby-syria-body-bags-attacks/

Russia moving nuclear-capable missiles into Kaliningrad: U.S. intelligence official

October 8, 2016 (UNIAN Information Agency) Russia is moving nuclear-capable missiles into Kaliningrad, a tiny Russian enclave sitting between Poland and Lithuania, a U.S. intelligence official said Friday, confirming Estonian news reports, according to Reuters.

Russia's reasons for shipping the 500-kilometer-range Iskander-M missiles to Kaliningrad "could be innocuous," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, as reported by Reuters. "They moved a similar missile system to Kaliningrad in 2014 for a military exercise. It could also be a political gesture - a show of strength - to express displeasure with NATO," said the official.

Read more on UNIAN: http://www.unian.info/world/1562187-russia-moving-nuclear-capable-missiles-into-kaliningrad-us-intelligence-official.html

Russia ups the pressure in search for US respect

By Steve Rosenberg BBC News, Moscow

October 5, 2016

They used to say that all roads lead to Rome. But, today, it seems that all roads lead to Russia. Or to its president: Vladimir Putin. Moscow is a key participant in the Syrian war and in the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Russian hackers have been accused of breaking into US servers; the Russian state has been accused of trying to influence the outcome of the US presidential election and of attempting to divide and weaken the European Union. And yet when Vladimir Putin came to power 16 years ago, he appeared ready for a close friendship with the West. The US President Bill Clinton described him as "smart" and a man with "enormous potential".

But compliments have given way to confrontation, with a list of differences as long as the Russian winter: Syria, Ukraine, Nato enlargement, missile defence. Western governments are disillusioned with an increasingly authoritarian Kremlin leader. And he no longer trusts them.

'Direct military confrontation'

"There's a real feeling now that America is out to prove it is the only superpower," believes veteran broadcaster Vladimir Pozner. "That if Russia does not fall into step the way the US wants it to it's going to have to pay a very high price for that. "The continued expansion of Nato is seen by the Russian leadership, perhaps incorrectly, is seen as being a real threat. You're pushing us, so we're pushing you right back. And we will do whatever we can to make it as unpleasant for you as you've made it for us. "There is a danger of real confrontation, perhaps leading to some kind of military engagement and war."

This week the popular Russian tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets suggested that the Syrian conflict could spark a "direct military confrontation between Russia and America" - on a par with the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. It warned of a Third World War.

"We had bad relations during the Cold War," says Andrey Kortunov, head of the Russian International Affairs Council, "but during the Cold War the relationship was more or less stable, because we knew what to expect from each other, we knew the rules of the game.

"Today we don't have anything like that. So relations aren't stable. This is what makes this relationship dangerous, arguably more dangerous than in the Cold War."

The whole article is available at

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-37558943

Poroshenko praises performance of Ukraine’s brand new Sarmat combat module

October 2, 2016 (UNIAN News agency) Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has written on Facebook about the successful testing of the country’s brand new combat module Sarmat designed for launching anti-tank missiles.

"The main guarantor of independence is our Armed Forces. I congratulate Luch design bureau with the successful tests of Sarmat, a new system of remotely controlled weapons with anti-tank missiles," he wrote. The Sarmat combat module launches precision guided anti-tank missiles, capable of hitting pillboxes, tanks in the trenches, hovering helicopters, maritime surface targets, and manpower. Sarmat can use the RK-3 missiles with a maximum range of 2,500 m or bigger RK-2S with a maximum range of 5,000 m. The full text and video are available at:

http://www.unian.info/society/1550821-poroshenko-praises-performance-of-ukraines-brand-new-sarmat-combat-module-video.html