ecns.cn (2021-12-15). Putin hails Russia-China ties as paradigm of int'l relations in 21st century. ecns.cn Russian President Vladimir Putin said Wednesday that Russia-China relations are a paradigm of international relations in the 21st century.

Morteza Ahmadi Al Hashem (2021-12-15). There is no alternative to JCPOA: Russia UN envoy. en.mehrnews.com Emphasizing that there is no alternative to the JCPOA, Russian First Deputy Permanent Representative to UN Russia views as dangerous and irresponsible attempts to portray JCPOA on Iran's nuclear program as outdated.

MK Bhadrakumar (2021-12-15). Crunch time coming after Biden-Putin meet. asiatimes.com Moscow is reiterating its "red lines," seeking long-term legal guarantees against NATO's further advancement to the east and the deployment of weapons on Russia's western borders. The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement on December 10, putting on record its expectation that long-term legal guarantees must be given "within a specific timeframe and on the …

ecns.cn (2021-12-15). China, Russia to expedite cooperation on cutting-edge technologies: Xi. ecns.cn Xi Jinping said Wednesday that China and Russia should take the opportunities brought by the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, and expedite industrial cooperation on cutting-edge technologies.

WSWS (2021-12-15). Russia anticipates new COVID surge, even as deaths remain at record highs. wsws.org The country continues to experience extremely high daily COVID-19 infections and death, as the spread of the Omicron variant threatens yet another spike.

Marzieh Rahmani (2021-12-15). JCPOA members, US hold meeting to discuss talks' acceleration. en.mehrnews.com Russian representative in Vienna talks said that JCPOA participants, without Iran, and the US held a meeting on Tuesday to exchange views on how best to proceed in order to expedite the Vienna talks.

Marzieh Rahmani (2021-12-15). Tehran reached a good agreement with IAEA. en.mehrnews.com The Iranian Foreign Minister said Wednesday that Tehran reached a good agreement with the IAEA last night, saying that this could respond to some of the alleged concerns about Iran's peaceful nuclear program.

Norman Solomon (2021-12-15). ÔªøCurrent Dispute Over ICBMs Is a Quarrel Over How to Fine-Tune the Doomsday Machinery. zcomm.org Nuclear weapons are at the pinnacle of what Martin Luther King Jr. called "the madness of militarism."

Marzieh Rahmani (2021-12-15). Tehran cannot stand interference in nuclear, defense program. en.mehrnews.com Iran's Foreign Ministry spokesman said that Iran does not tolerate any interference in its peaceful nuclear and defense program, reiterating that the trio islands are the permanent and inseparable part of Iran.

_____ (2021-12-14). The United States Is Using Nazis In Ukraine To Provoke War With Russia. popularresistance.org If you listen to the corporate media in the United States, you may believe the lies that say Russia is preparing to invade Ukraine. In reality, it is the United States, led by then vice president Joe Biden, that conducted a coup to replace the elected president of Ukraine in 2014 and has been training and arming Nazis to attack the ethnically Russian Donbass Region in eastern Ukraine ever since. There is daily violence against civilians and basic infrastructure. The Biden administration is escalating this aggression and trying to blame Russia with the support of the same corporate media that defended US attacks o…

Eric Zuesse (2021-12-14). Political Corruption in U.S., Germany, and Russia. moderndiplomacy.eu The U.S. Government shaped the Governments of Germany and of Russia; and, therefore, the campaign-finance laws in these three countries will be compared here. The U.S. Government shaped the German Government not only because the U.S. Government (with the cooperation of its WW II allies) shaped post-War West Germany, but because that West German Government …

Editor2 (2021-12-14). Russia may Find it Necessary Take Action to Secure its Borders with Ukraine, According to Dan Kovalik (Interview). orinocotribune.com Tensions eased after Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned of the US and NATO risking a "nightmare scenario of military confrontation" in Europe following NATO's expanding military infrastructure in Ukraine. While speaking at a conference of the Organizati…

William Boardman (2021-12-14). Ukraine Is a Problem Only as Long as the West Makes It One. dissidentvoice.org Ukrainian servicemen take part in a drill of the airborne troops taking place in Zhytomyr region on November 21, 2018. (photo: AFP) Since the fall of the Soviet Union thirty years ago, US policy on Ukraine has been an ugly mix of inconsistency, quiet aggression, fear-mongering and stupidity. Now President Biden is recklessly intensifying the …

Newsclick (2021-12-14). Mapping Faultlines: After Biden-Putin summit, what next for Ukraine and the region? peoplesdispatch.org NewsClick's Prabir Purkayastha talks about the recent call between US president Joe Biden and Russian president Vladimir Putin and the emerging situation in Ukraine…

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-14). Britain may deploy military bases in Ukraine: Russian ambassador. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Deployment of UK military bases in Ukraine possible, Russian envoy says Russian Ambassador to UK Andrey Kelin speculated that London may deploy military bases in Ukraine under a bilateral agreement. "In theory, such situation is possible," he said on TV Tuesday, answering a question. "This is a privileged partnership, which the Americans, for example, have …

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-14). Kiev to terrorize population with mass-scale "Russian invasion" drills. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Kyiv to host drills with alarm sirens in several weeks, — official Kyiv city administration prepares to conduct explanatory work with the population, drills with alarm sirens and trainings with police and subway employees in case the Ukrainian capital faces the attack by Russian forces. Andriy Kryschenko, the deputy head of Kyiv city state administration …

teleSUR (2021-12-14). US Exit from Weapons Treaty Built Up Russia's Defense Industry. telesurenglish.net In June 2002 the U.S under former President George W. Bush's administration decided to exit the Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM), putting an end to the accord that limited Washington and Moscow to only having two ABM complexes. | Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia Dmitry Medvedev declared on Tuesday the development of Russia's Defense and Arms industries occurred after US quit the ABM.

Michael Maier (2021-12-14). Russia wants a treaty with NATO on eastern enlargement. indybay.org There is now a need for "a treaty that prevents NATO from standing on the Russian border: " "We need to start negotiations on the new NATO expansion plans." Conceding such a "red line" to the Russians has so far been rejected by NATO…

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-14). Chinese, Russian presidents to discuss NATO's bellicose rhetoric. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com Russian, Chinese presidents to discuss NATO's belligerent rhetoric, says Kremlin spokesman Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping will address NATO's belligerent rhetoric and tense situation in Europe during the talks, which are going to take place on Wednesday via video linkup, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated on Tuesday. "[The sides] will …

Trita Parsi (2021-12-14). Biden's Efforts to Appease Israel on Iran Have Failed on All Fronts. zcomm.org It's not the nuclear deal that's the problem for Tel Aviv, but the very idea that Washington and Tehran would reach any detente at all…

Kerry Smith (2021-12-14). Protesters Say 'No' to AUKUS, Nuclear Submarines and War with China. asia-pacificresearch.com

Medea Benjamin (2021-12-14). Israel Is Hell-Bent on Sabotaging US Nuclear Negotiations With Iran. zcomm.org You'd think that Israel might feel obligated not to drag the United States into another disastrous military conflict in the Middle East…

Mark Hallim (2021-12-14). Nationalism and Liberal Democracies: The Rise of Nationalism in Brazil. moderndiplomacy.eu Twenty-five years ago, liberal democracies rose; the Berlin Wall had fallen, the Soviet Union collapsed, and new democracies emerged in Europe. In South Africa, the apartheid regime was removed. Even though the Chinese government brutally crushed a democracy, the belief existed that a more educated and wealthy middle class would demand democratic reforms. The 2008 …

Morning Star (2021-12-13). NATO and Lithuania talking tough as EU-Russia tensions loom over Ukraine. peoplesworld.org

Dr. Andrey KORTUNOV (2021-12-13). The Russians Love Their Children Too. moderndiplomacy.eu Recently, there have been all the more articles with headlines screaming "What does Vladimir Putin really think about Donbass?" or "When will the war between Russia and Ukraine break out?" To be honest, I really envy the authors of such publications. All these contributors must have supernatural telepathic channels of communication with the Russian leadership, …

WSWS (2021-12-13). G7 foreign ministers summit in Liverpool threatens Russia, China. wsws.org The summit communiqué accused Russia of planning war with Ukraine and threatened Moscow with "massive consequences" if it did not bow to US demands.

_____ (2021-12-13). A Recent Case in Point of What anti-Chinese Sanctions Could Bring. journal-neo.org "One gets an impression that the West has lost a culture of political dialogue. The partners have forgotten how to address problems in a civilized manner," said Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Pankin on December 8. Pankin explained that the West most often responds to any decision that does not conform to …

_____ (2021-12-13). Vienna Talks and the Future of the Middle East. journal-neo.org The negotiations now opening in Vienna under the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) between Iran on the one hand and, on the other, a number of countries including the E3 (France, Great Britain, and Germany), Russia, China, and the US, are not generally thought likely to make any major positive change to the stability …

Pietro Shakarian (2021-12-13). Moscow's Caucasian Conundrum: Turkish-Russian Relations and the Limits of "Strategic Competition" moderndiplomacy.eu Authors: Pietro Shakarian and Benyamin Poghosyan* Russo—Turkish relations have been at the forefront of recent media discussions. Cooperative competition, "frenemies," managed rivalry, "co-opetition," and other catchy terms are used to describe bilateral relations between Moscow and Ankara. However, the reality is that the two countries have both overlapping, and yet contradictory, interests in many parts …

Rajiv Bhatia (2021-12-13). Modernising India-Russia Ties. moderndiplomacy.eu The India—Russia leaders' summit and ministerial meetings in New Delhi on Dec. 6, scored big. Differences were set aside to make transformative progress in defence, fintech and connectivity among other sectors, commencing a new era of India-Russia relations fit for the 21st century. Indian and Russian diplomats responsible for drafting the joint statement—the outcome document …

Editor (2021-12-13). Israel is Hell-Bent on Sabotaging U.S. Nuclear Negotiations With Iran. scheerpost.com Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action Joint Commission negotiations in Vienna, Austria. (Askin Kiyagan / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) | By Ariel Gold & Medea Benjamin / After a 5-month hiatus, indirect negotiations between the U.S. and Iran resumed last week in Vienna in an attempt to revise the 2015 Iran nuclear deal (formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action or JCPOA). The outlook isn't good. | Less than a week into negotiations, Britain, France, and Germany…

teleSUR (2021-12-13). US Must Lift Sanctions For Iran To Return To The Nuclear Deal. telesurenglish.net On Sunday, Iran's Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Bagheri Kani pointed out that the U.S. must lift the sanctions it has imposed on his country in exchange for its return to the 2015 nuclear agreement. | RELATED: | One of the main goals of the Vienna talks was "to establish the conditions that the Americans must meet," said Bagheri Kani, who is also Iran's chief negotiator. Once those conditions are agreed upon, the U.S. will hav…

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-12). Ukraine: U.S. to supply $20 million for buildup on Belarusian, Russian borders. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com U.S. to provide Ukraine with 20 million dollars to strengthen border The United States will provide Ukraine with $ 20 million to strengthen the border. This was reported by the press center of the State Border Service of Ukraine. "The start of the implementation of Strengthening the Capacity of the State Border Service project will …

_____ (2021-12-12). Understanding And Resisting The New Cold War. popularresistance.org We are constantly bombarded with messages telling us that if our country and our way of life are to survive we must weaponize, weaponize, weaponize… We must recognize this as Cold War messaging to be resisted, and help others do the same. | The first thing to understand is that the Cold War is psychological war waged by the US and its allies. It is carried out on a worldwide basis and especially in the United States against the public. These operations are aimed at conditioning people to accept war preparations and war operations. They involve the joint efforts of what Ray McGovern (a co-founder of Veteran Inte…

Rick Rozoff (2021-12-12). Biden to Putin: U.S. to deploy troops to nine NATO eastern flank states if Russia intervenes in Ukraine. antibellum679354512.wordpress.com From TASS. Four of the Bucharest Nine nations (all NATO members) have land and two more sea borders with Russia. All are former members of the Warsaw Pact, dissolved thirty years ago, and three of those are former Soviet republics. To be recalled the next time you read about so-called red lines in regard to …

Marzieh Rahmani (2021-12-12). Biden rejects US deploying of ground forces to Ukraine. en.mehrnews.com The possibility of sending US ground combat troops to Ukraine against Russia has been never on the table, US President said, claiming that he warned Russia on any military move against Ukraine.

Zahra Mirzafarjouyan (2021-12-12). Atmosphere in Vienna talks 'positive': Russian diplomat. en.mehrnews.com Russian diplomat at Vienna talks criticized the comments of some analysts and journalists about the talks underway in the Austrian capital, saying that the atmosphere in the talks in Vienna is "positive.

William Mallinson (2021-12-12). Greece's American NaàØveté: Beware Americans Bearing Gifts. moderndiplomacy.eu Early last year, I concluded an article entitled 'Greece and Russia: back to the 'Truman Doctrine?', with the words: 'Then becomes now, albeit with different colors. Just as with Britain during her heyday, Greece's relations with Russia today are predicated on the US's keeping Russia at bay in the Eastern Mediterranean, and therefore from having …

teleSUR (2021-12-12). Venezuela Receives Russian Sputnik Light Vaccine Booster Doses. telesurenglish.net Venezuela's Health Ministry Saturday reported the arrival of 2,611,000 doses of the Russian-produced Sputnik Light vaccine to continue the immunization process in the Bolivarian nation. | RELATED: | The Sputnik Light vaccine will be used as a booster dose in the health and education sector personnel who received a vaccine. | The Bolivarian nation has at least 80 percent of the population with a COVID-19 vaccine dos…

Michael Maier (2021-12-12). Russia wants a treaty with NATO on eastern enlargement. indybay.org There is now a need for "a treaty that prevents NATO from standing on the Russian border: " "We need to start negotiations on the new NATO expansion plans." Conceding such a "red line" to the Russians has so far been rejected by NATO…

Kamal Iranidoost (2021-12-12). EU demands slowing down pace of Vienna talks: source. en.mehrnews.com A source close to the Iranian delegation to the Vienna talks said the Europeans were trying to impose demands beyond the nuclear deal's terms.

Staff (2021-12-12). E3 throws wrench into Vienna talks. en.mehrnews.com With the Vienna talks running up against technical roadblocks, the E3 has resorted to a series of bullying measures ranging from pressuring other parties to brandishing referral of Iran's nuclear binder to intl. institutions.

Kerry Smith (2021-12-12). Protesters say 'No' to AUKUS, nuclear submarines and war with China. greenleft.org.au A national weekend of action against AUKUS was organised over December 10-12, with protests in Canberra, Perth, Sydney, Wollongong, Hobart, Brisbane and Adelaide. Kerry Smith reports.