Kiev has warned Moscow of ‘geopolitical consequences’ if Gazprom ceases gas transits through the territory of Ukraine.

"If there is no transit through the territory of Ukraine, then the likelihood of a full-scale conflict between Russia and Ukraine is also increasing. European politicians need to understand not only the economic consequences for Ukraine, but also geopolitical consequences for the whole world," the commercial director at Ukraine’s main gas company Naftogaz Yuri Vitrenko told the 112 Ukraine TV channel.

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Breaking: Donbass Shelled Under NATO Command
By Inessa S On Apr 25, 2018
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Earlier today, Fort Russ published an op-ed by Russell Bentley, who revealed that a new offensive is about to begin on the Donbass in early May.

Permanent representative to the OPCW said in a press release on Monday Russian and Syrian officials plan bringing 17 eyewitnesses of the April 7 incident in the Syrian city of Douma to The Hague, where the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) has its headquarters, in order to prove that the alleged poison gas attack was a setup.
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"Taking part in the news briefing will be the eyewitnesses of shooting of the footage that featured the fake pseudo-humanitarian action staged by the White Helmets and that provided grounds for the US/UK/French missile strikes at Syria on April 14," the press release said, adding that "In all, there will be seventeen people, including physicians who were right at the scene on that day. They will recount the true story of the incident."

"The delegations [of the OPCW member-states] will get first-hand evidence on the forged footage that misled the world community," the Russian mission stressed.

"The briefing is organized in support of the OPCW fact-finding mission currently deployed in Syria to investigate the incident," the press release stated.

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The construction of the 3,000km Power of Siberia gas pipeline or the eastern route, which is aimed to deliver Russian gas to China, will be completed by the end of the year.

The announcement was made by Deputy Chairman of Gazprom Management Committee Vitaly Markelov, who said: “By 2019, we plan to eliminate technical gaps after testing.”

The Power of Siberia pipeline is one of the biggest projects between Russia and China. Analysts say it could help Russia become one of China's main providers of natural gas as demand in the country increases.

Gazprom, Russia’s leading natural gas producer, says it's ready to supply as much blue fuel as Europe wants. The company is ready to build the Nord Stream 3 pipeline, if necessary.

"We have proven reserves, we have transport, we are building new transport routes. If Europe is ready… I do not rule out new gas transportation projects – Nord Stream 3, for example," said Gazprom Deputy Chairman of the Management Committee Aleksandr Medvedev in an interview with the Rossiya 24 TV channel.

A group of Ukrainian neo-Nazis has forcibly evicted Roma from a camp in Kiev, bragging about the violent pogrom on Facebook. The move was slammed by Amnesty International as Congress voiced concern over Nazism glorification.

The neo-Nazis forced the Roma to flee their camp and then burned some of 15 tents belonging to the Roma, the NGO said. The radicals themselves boasted about their pogrom in a Facebook post and described their actions as “convincing and legal arguments.” They also claimed they “disposed of the litter” left over by the Roma and “safely burnt” their tents, as well as uploaded the photos of the devastated camp to social media.

One of "Novichok"'s developers, who gave several interviews after the poisoning of former Colonel of GRU Sergei Skripal and his daughter in the British Salisbury, was hit by the car on Wednesday, April 25, in Anapa - reports "Interfax" with reference to an informed source. The man was hospitalized with slight injuries to the leg and head, his life is not in danger...

This hybrid war, with multiple and difficult to distinguish sides against the Syrian state, is practically over and isolated now only to Idlib and part of Dara province with no perspective for the future. NATO’s humiliation with its failed cruise missiles strikes proved that NATO’s humiliation with its failed cruise missiles strikes proved that NATO is incapable to win any war without full air supremacy.

So what is left? The only option is prolonging the war, forcing Damascus to liberate all the territory at a cost and not in a quick manner. The meeting between Putin, Rohani and Erdogan was established to put together a statement that they are against any US zone in Syria. But what does that mean in perspective, how will they crush US zone of influence?

The US established the SDF forces in the period of the war which was its last hope for a footprint in Syria.>>>

Ahmet Uzumcu, OPCW head, told the two Russian pranksters – posing as the Polish prime minister this time – that a “Novichok” can be produced by any country, including “absolutely” the US. The conversation lasted for more than 22 minutes. The comedians called the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons Director-General on Monday and posted their damning prank call on YouTube. Posing as Poland’s Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki, the duo demanded to know more about what had happened from the international chemical arms watchdog tasked to investigate the chemical attacks in the UK as well as Syria. Vovan and Lexus have already pranked the likes of US envoy to the UN Nikki Haley, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and NATO chief, Jens Stoltenberg.

Sen. Cory Gardner made a bizarre proposal last week: The State Department should consider adding the country to its list of state sponsors of terrorism, alongside its close allies Iran and Syria. The moral case for such a designation is sound. Russia has invaded its neighbors Georgia and Ukraine, it supports the murderous regime of Bashar al-Assad and our enemies in Afghanistan, and it is engaged in active information warfare against Western democracies, including meddling in the 2016 United States elections... There is also evidence that Russia is playing both sides of the conflict in Syria — defending the murderous Assad regime, but also fueling the radical insurgency against it. Reporting by Ukrainian news outlets has shown that Russia has provided material support to the Islamic State, including assistance in recruitment...

Developing the Union State of Belarus and Russia remains relevant, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said in an address to the nation and parliament on Tuesday according to TASS. “Our union project with Russia still remains pertinent. Given the extremely difficult global situation, the importance of our partnership has skyrocketed,” the Belarussian leader pointed out. However, in Lukashenko’s words, “the integration capacity of our cooperation is not always employed fully and effectively.” “We are sick and tired of issues over the access of our goods to the Russian market. We have been talking about a common market for 20 years but these issues continue to crop up in various areas, be it over food products or energy resources,” the Belarusian president said, noting that “migration and border control issues have recently been added.”

The European Union and the United States are not authorized to amend the nuclear deal with Iran, and no one can talk on behalf of a group of six international mediators (Russia, China, the US, France, the UK and Germany), Russia’s Permanent Representative to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov, said on Wednesday upon his arrival at the international donor conference on Syria in Brussels. "If the European trio reaches an agreement with the Americans on something, neither our Chinese counterparts nor we have anything to do with that. Everyone signed the agreement, and no one has authorized the European trio to talk on behalf of a group of six nations," the Russian diplomat said commenting on reports about closed-door consultations between EU member-states and the US on amending the Iran nuclear deal. "I believe it is premature now to say who struck a deal with whom.

Western countries are concealing information about their military drills from Russian inspectors in violations of their liabilities under the 2011 Vienna Document on measures to build up measures of confidence and security (VDOC11), the Russian foreign ministry said on Tuesday after the publication of the US Department of State’s 2017 Compliance Report. "Regrettably, as before, the United States’ report is ‘humbly’ silent about numerous problems with the implementation of the Vienna Document the United States and their allies have," the ministry said. "For instance, a number of signatory nations (Denmark, Spain) keep on dodging notifying of other VDOC11 signatories about large-scale military exercises in a period of 42 days before their beginning. Apart from that, notifications from certain states lack information that is needed for comprehensive planning of inspection activities in a period of such drills," the ministry noted.

The United States is deliberately misinforming Russia about implementation of its liabilities under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, the Russian foreign ministry said after the publication of the US Department of State’s 2017 Compliance Report. "Washington gives intentionally false information about ‘implementation’ of its liabilities under the INF Treaty. For years, the United States has been simply ignoring Russia’s serious concerns stemming from the implementation of this treaty by the US side," the ministry said. The Russian Foreign Ministry pointed at a number of violations, committed by the US. One of them is the deployment of the Aegis Ashore systems in Romania and Poland. Those systems feature universal vertical Mk.41 launchers that can be used to fire both Standard 3 anti-missiles and Tomahawk cruise missiles. In addition, the increasing production of strike drones in the United States also constitutes a clear violation of the treaty, the ministry said.

Russia is free to deploy its troops and military equipment in Crimea, which is a part of its territory, and views as a futile provocation all attempts to inspect the peninsula as part of inspections in Ukraine, the Russian Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday. "The modern status of the Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol as territorial entities of the Russian Federation cannot be reviewed. Respectively, Russia is free to deploy troops and military equipment on its territory, and all attempts to inspect the territory of Crimea as part of inspections in Ukraine are provocative and futile. Naturally, Russia is ready to accept inspectors, observers and the evaluation group in Crimea if it receives relevant requests under the Vienna document," the ministry said, commenting on the US Department of State’s Report on Adherence to and Compliance With Arms Control, Nonproliferation, and Disarmament Agreements and Commitments.

Opposition in Armenia will continue the revolution through to the logical end, parliament deputy Nikol Pashinyan, a leader of the opposition, told a news conference on Tuesday. "There'll be no breaks until our revolution gets through to the logical end," he said when a reporter asked him if he would continue appealing to the nation to join protest actions or would make a pause for talks with the authorities.
Peskov stressed that the Kremlin’s position on Armenia remains unchanged. "We still consider that this is a domestic affair (of Armenia) and hope that our Armenian friends will be able to solve this situation and find a stable structure and a consensus decision soon," he said. "We are very carefully monitoring this situation," Peskov noted. http://tass.com/politics/1001676

The end of Russian gas transit via the territory of Ukraine will increase the possibility of a conflict between Russia and Ukraine and entail futher geopolitical consequences, the commercial director of Ukraine’s oil and gas company Naftogaz said. "If there is no transit via the territory of Ukraine, the possibility of a full-fledged conflict between Ukraine and Russia also increases, which will have geopolitical consequences. This is the idea that we are trying to convey, first of all to European partners, who need to understand not only economic consequences for Ukraine, but also geopolitical consequences for the entire world," Yuri Vitrenko was quoted as saying by the 112 Ukraine TV channel on Tuesday. Gazprom Deputy CEO Alexander Medvedev said on Tuesday that the contract with Ukraine after 2019 will not be renewed under any circumstances but this does not mean that the transit of gas will be stopped.

Yelena Odnovol was taken into custody by the Ukrainian authorities at the Chongar checkpoint last Monday and was later charged with high treason. Ukrainian Prosecutor General Yuri Lutsenko said that the woman is suspected of "subversive activities" and damaging Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, because she arranged and took part in the collection of voter signatures in support of Vladimir Putin’s presidential nomination in Crimea. Later, Ukrainian prosecutors announced she entered the country with the Ukrainian passport, issued in 2017. The Russian embassy in Ukraine said it had not been notified of the detention. Crimean leader Sergei Aksyonov recommended the republic’s residents to avoid visiting Ukraine. On March 25, Ukraine’s State Border Service detained the Nord fishing vessel with a crew of ten Russian citizens in the Sea of Azov.

Russia may see a hike in health care, education and infrastructure spending by around $162 billion in the next six years, with cuts in its military spending, according to a report on Vladimir Putin's plan for his term in office. This means that Russia will be investing around 11.3 percent of its GDP in infrastructure, health care and education over the next six years, compared to the 9 percent it currently invests...

The US sanctions against aluminum producer Rusal seem to be a shot in their own knees: After the US government found that the price of aluminum went up as a result of uncertainty about the future of Rusal, US companies, and the massively hit western allies, the government in Washington backpedaled on Monday. US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said in a statement: “Rusal has felt the impact of US sanctions for its involvement with Oleg Deripaska, but the US government is not targeting the hard-working people who depend on Rusal and its affiliates. Rusal approached us to request removal from the list. Given the impact on our partners and allies, we have decided to postpone the resolution and dismantling phase while reviewing the request from Russia." Speculators who had anticipated the collapse of the US were also able to make a cut: Rusal’s shares rose 15 percent to 26.39 rubles, during trading on the Moscow exchange on Monday. according to a statement by the US Treasury...

To understand what is happening, one needs to step back in time and follow the leads that have been given by the various players. The players in this game of world one-upmanship chess are; Germany, Russia and China. It would be easy to say that three more unlikely bed mates would be harder to find; at first superficial glance this may well be so. Germany and Russia hardly have had the best of relationships over the last 200 years and China may well be perceived as a major threat to Russia in the Far East. But if we examine the strategic benefits of such an alliance, we see major benefits to the parties...

The administration of the Central Bank of Turkey has withdrawn the national gold reserve from the US Federal Reserve System. According to Trend news agency, the Central Bank of Turkey had 220 tons of gold at the US Federal Reserve. At the same time, two other Turkish banks - Ziraat and Vakifbank - also started withdrawing their gold reserves from the United States. Their "gold assets" are evaluated at 95 tons. As of March 2018, the gold reserves of the Central Bank of Turkey amounted to $25.3 billion. Analysts believe that Turkey has made such a move against the background of worsening relations between Ankara and Washington. Earlier, Want China Times wrote with reference to Duowei News that China's enormous gold reserves give the People's Republic of China an opportunity to cause the US national currency to collapse. The publications also noted that Russia had doubled her gold and currency reserves since 2005.

Russian specialists ask more and more questions. For example, it remains unclear how a non-decomposed toxic chemical established by Porton Down was found in a blood sample of one of the victims 18 days after the contact, even though the other victim, who suffered a more serious poisoning, did not show such a phenomenon. According to him, such an observation was not typical of nerve agents, which may indirectly mean, with a high degree of probability, that a chemical agent had been injected into the blood of Yulia Skripal before her blood samples were collected when she was in a coma...

The United States creates visa problems for pilots of Russia's Aeroflot, even though Aeroflot is the only airline that makes regular flights between Russia and the USA. "It is possible that Russia and the United States of America will be left without air service. Aeroflot, the only company that makes regular flights between Russia and the United States, is likely to be forced to stop them, as their crews experience increasing difficulties with obtaining US visas," a statement from the press department of the Russian Foreign Ministry said. Putin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov admitted that regular flights between Russia and the USA could be stopped, although the Russian administration would not want such a development. Earlier, it was said that the US consulate denied visas to Bolshoi Theater ballerina Olga Smirnova and first soloist Jacopo Tissi. Linda K.

Russia is to start supplying S-300 air defence systems to Syria in the near future. The shipments will be conducted free of charge, the Kommersant newspaper wrote adding that Russia is determined to take a swift effort to create the echeloned air defence system for Syria. The question about the transfer of S-300 systems to Syria remains "mostly political" and has been practically resolved. Components of S-300 systems, including radar stations, transport vehicles, command posts and missile launchers, will be delivered to Syria by military transport aircraft or vessels of the Russian Navy. It is possible that Russia will deliver the systems that have already been used in the Russian Armed Forces. On April 14, the Western coalition fired 103 missiles on Syria, but Syrian air defence forces shot down 71 of those missiles.

"A household cause is behind the emergence of the yellow admixtures in the water. Routine limescale crust had formed in the water-heating unit, which had reached the end of its service life. There is nothing terrible in that as we are regularly confronted with such things on Earth. The problem is solved quite easily, we will just promptly replace this unit, which cosmonauts normally call ‘samovar’ with a reserve one," First Deputy CEO for Space Systems’ Flight Operation and Tests at Energia Rocket and Space Corporation Vladimir Solovyov told TASS on Tuesday. Some media outlets reported earlier on Tuesday that problems had emerged with the quality of hot water and yellowish admixtures of unknown origin had been discovered in the space station’s Russian segment. Reports stated that the cosmonauts allegedly had to use water in the US segment. As Solovyov noted, the use of water from the American segment is prescribed in this case in the flight program.

Following Armenian Prime Minister Serzh Sargsyan’s resignation after staying in office for less than a week amid mass protests nationwide, Karen Karapetyan has been appointed acting Prime Minister, while the new PM and cabinet are expected in a week’s time. Despite the recent developments, economic relations between Armenia and Russia will remain solid as the two countries enjoy well-established and strong ties. More importantly, Moscow is a key economic partner for Yerevan, Izvestia writes with reference to experts...

UNESCO’s Secretariat is no longer maintaining contact with the administrations of the World Heritage List sites in Crimea, Russian envoy to UNESCO Alexander Kuznetsov said in an interview with Izvestia. "Under the western pressure the secretariat of UNESCO has broken all contacts with their traditional partners in Crimea, including the World Heritage List site - the Ancient City of Tauric Chersonese. The Secretariat even rejects accepting reports on its integrity," he said. According to Kuznetsov, the UN cultural organization uses monitoring results based on Kiev’s reports, which are biased. "They [the reports] are extremely politicized and unilateral. So what ‘monitoring’ in Crimea are we talking about? UNESCO simply ignores the real state of affairs on the peninsula," he emphasized... Kiev and Western states continue to raise the issue of Crimea’s belonging at UNESCO sessions.

Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov is certain that the real state of affairs and Washington’s stance leave no chance for considering an easing of tensions in Russian-US relations. "The reality - the real state of affairs and real steps that we see Washington take - point in the other direction (not at an easing of tensions in Russian-US relations). Hardly anyone will dare argue with this," Peskov told the media on Tuesday. Earlier, US ambassador to Russia Jon Huntsman said President Donald Trump had repeatedly declared his intention to seek more effective cooperation with Russia.

"Today, the Pacific Fleet flagship, the Order of Nakhimov Guards missile cruiser Varyag has carried out a combat training exercise as part of the Primorye all-arms flotilla’s tactical drills ongoing in the Sea of Japan to fire Bazalt cruise missiles against a sea shield simulating a notional enemy’s surface ship," the spokesman said. The cruise missiles successfully hit the target, "which was confirmed by live recording equipment and the target’s visual inspection," the spokesman said. The Fleet’s 15 warships and auxiliary vessels, and also anti-submarine warfare aircraft of naval aviation provided security in the area of the combat training exercise, the spokesman said.

The UK has failed to provide answers to the most important questions on the Skripal case, the Russian Permanent Mission to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) informed TASS on Tuesday. "The materials we have received from the British side do not suit us," the mission stressed. "We will certainly need some time for a more detailed analysis. The first impression is that the British have not given answers to the most important questions that we asked." The mission is currently considering "possible options for further steps." "Anyway, we will seek substantial answers on the aspects which are vital for us," it stressed. On April 13, Russia handed over to Britain a list of questions concerning the Salisbury poisoning in accordance with Article 9 of the Chemical Weapons Convention." The answers to these questions were due to be received by April 23.

The neoconservative hawks around the US President, notably new National Security head John Bolton and designated Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, are on record that Iran is in Washington’s sights for regime change or at a minimum, economic sanctions and chaos. The rhetoric is not empty. The ground is being laid by US threats to not renew the Iran nuclear agreement in May, a move opposed by the other signatories and a move that would plunge Iran into a deep economic crisis at a time it can ill afford.
The orchestration of the US-led bombing of Syria, regardless of what targets were or were not hit, now sets the propaganda stage for a dramatic escalation of new sanctions against Iran, and for a major destabilization, something not possible in 2009.

What is taking shape now from the side of Washington is preparation to unleash a new wave of economic and financial sanctions on Iran, regardless.

Republika Srpska was not considering the possibility of joining any union. According to Republika Srpska’s President Milorad Dodik, "it is a principled position." While speaking about relations with NATO, Dodik said that "all state agencies and public figures in Republika Srpska are determined to pursue a policy of neutrality towards NATO." "Cooperation between Republika Srpska and Russia cannot depend on interaction with other countries," he said, adding that Republika Srpska’s ties with the European Union could not damage its cooperation with Russia in areas of mutual interest.

"In compliance with the combat training plan, the Black Sea Fleet’s naval taskforces comprising the frigates Admiral Grigorovich and Admiral Essen, the guard ships Pytlivy and Smetlivy are holding two-side maneuvers in the distant operational zone. In the course of the drills, the crews are practicing the algorithms for a group of warships to conduct a sea battle," the press office said. "During the drills, the frigates as a strike group notionally attacked the guard ships, which in turn practiced measures to jointly repel a simulated enemy’s attack, the press office said. "After that, the personnel of combat posts practiced the procedure to deliver missile strikes against coastal targets. The crews are also being trained in damage control to provide assistance to a ship damaged in a battle," the press office said.

Russia calls against militarization of European countries, including the accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to NATO, Federation Council (upper house) Speaker Valentina Matviyenko said on Tuesday after meeting with President of Republika Srpska Milorad Dodik. "Russia’s position is consistent, open and clear: we oppose NATO’s expansion into Europe and are against militarization of European countries and creation of division lines. We believe this worsens the security situation on the European continent," Matviyenko said answering a question about Russia’s stance on Bosnia and Herzegovina’s accession to NATO...

Father Andrew Phillips, is a long-serving priest in the ROCOR Orthodox church in Essex, UK. Biography. He is a prolific writer, particularly on Russian history and current events, from an Orthodox Christian perspective. In this January 2013 article, he answers readers’ questions about the last Russian Tsar, Nicholas II, debunking decades of deliberate, slanderous lies coming from the media, academia, and governments of the UK, Germany, and America, but mostly from the UK. For another excellent article debunking this anti-Russian propaganda which is so ingrained in the West, see his fascinating article about Rasputin, whom he sees as a hero, also maliciously slandered by Russia's enemies...

The so-called 'journalists' in the mainstream media seem to be the last people to realize that the US/UK/Israel Syrian gassing hoax is coming apart at the seams. Alternative media has gone unanimously against it, as well as some in the mainstream. And now this bombshell from Russian state television. It really is stupendous. Take a few minutes to watch this or read the transcript below. There cannot be any doubt - the so-called Syria gassing was a fraud, and there is no way the countries who launched missile strikes in response didn't know this. The really interesting question is, what happens now? Does anyone get called to account for almost starting WW3 with a fraudulent false flag? Stay tuned. Transcript follows below video...

Increasingly it appears that the recent US coalition missile strikes on Syria have utterly backfired: instead of weakening Syria or degrading its military capabilities, the attack may have actually served to strengthen Syria's defenses. Since the massive strike which involved the US, UK, and France launching over 100 cruise missiles, Russia is rumored to be moving forward on delivery of its advanced S-300 missile defense system, which would be a monumental upgrade allowing Syrian defenses to far surpass current capabilities which utilize the Soviet-made S-125 and S-200 air defense systems. Crucially, S-300s have a range of up to 150-200 kilometers (or 120 miles), bringing Syrian deterrent reach easily to within Lebanese airspace (as Israel has routinely struck targets inside Syria while firing over "neutral" Lebanese airspace in recent years), and could even extend airspace coverage into Israel itself. Could this be the reason for some major behind-the-scenes diplomatic scrambling?..

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"We share, and agree with, the U.K.’s assessment that it is highly likely that the Russian Federation was responsible for the attack, and that there is no plausible alternative explanation. We call on Russia to urgently address all questions related to the incident in Salisbury," the ministers said in a joint communique.

"Russia should provide full and complete disclosure of its previously undeclared Novichok programme to the OPCW in line with its international obligations. We call on Russia to live up to its Chemical Weapons Convention obligations, as well as its responsibilities as a permanent member of the UNSC to uphold international peace and security," the statement reads.

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Following his inauguration on May 7, the head of the Russian Federation, Vladimir Putin, will adopt an unprecedented decision, said the newspaper Moskovski Komsomolets quoted Focus.

Bloomberg sources reveal that the Kremlin leader will sign a decree containing a plan for Russia's economic development for the next six years. It is supposed to be presented as a plan to improve the quality of life of the Russians. And if it comes to specific measures, it is reported to increase spending on infrastructure development, education and healthcare.

The amount to be mentioned is 10 trillion rubles.>>>

The Assistant Secretary to Russian Security Council Alexander Venediktov said that the US attack against Syria is an example of disregard for the norms and principles of international law, and a challenge to the entire UN system.
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Russian officials have also condemned the attack, with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu calling the situation around the alleged chemical attack a provocation designed to derail the Syrian constitutional process. The strikes came on the very day, when experts from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) were to arrive at the site of the alleged chemical incident.

The Fact-Finding mission of the OPCW is currently deployed in Syria, probing into the reported Douma chemical attack.

>>>

Russia’s foreign minister has said the US sought out and respected Moscow’s positions in Syria when it launched its air strikes last week.

Sergey Lavrov noted that despite the escalating tensions between Moscow and Washington, the US made sure it did not harm any Russian personnel and positions during the strikes against the regime of President Bashar Assad following a suspected chemical attack on the town of Douma.

“We told them where our red lines were, including the geographical red lines,” Mr Lavrov told Russian state television. “The results have shown that they haven’t crossed those lines.”

The Defense News website quoted US Defense Department officials as saying that the move is still under discussion and that it "would be a response to "increasingly assertive Russian activities in the region," while also being in line with Washington's new National Defense Strategy, Sputnik reported.

At the same time, Defense News reported that the Harry S. Truman staying on in Europe "would be a major departure from the normal rotational presence missions the Navy has conducted since Operation Desert Storm, in which a trip through 'The Ditch' is almost a foregone conclusion."

Additionally, the aircraft carrier's deployment in the Mediterranean should "serve as an imposing reminder" of US President Donald Trump's warning against the alleged use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government forces, according to the Defense News.

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Syrian Army is kickin the crap out of Donald's terrorists with their shiny new Russian weapons.
Great combat footage.

The footage shows the Syrian Army employing a tremendous amount of artillery (including rocket forces), armor and shock troops against ISIL in the districts of Yarmouk Camp and Hajjar al-Aswad.

The Central Bank of Russia keeps all its bullion at home, since only in Russia can its gold be completely safe, according to Anatoly Aksakov, the chairman of the State Duma Committee on Financial Markets.

Answering a question about Turkey’s decision to repatriate its gold from the US Federal Reserve, Aksakov said: "We do not have a gold reserve in the US, we have only Forex (foreign exchange) reserves abroad. No one can lay hands on our gold."