Global spending on weapons totals more than $1.7tn (£1tn), and Russia has overtaken Britain and France to take third place in the world league table, according to the latest figures released by a leading research body on Tuesday. While military expenditure fell last year in most western countries, including the US, which is facing serious [...]

It would be a fatal mistake to dismiss the Annan plan prematurely and argue for NATO intervention A fragile ceasefire took hold in Syria on Thursday, evidence of the pressure Russia, China – and to some extent Iran – could apply to the Assad regime if they wanted to. It was their alarm at the [...]

From the Pirate Party of Russia, to the group headed by billionaire tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov – there’s no shortage of fresh political blood hoping to find a place in Russia’s Parliament. And this week, with the president expected to sign in new laws making it easier for them to register, the competition could get a [...]

SEOUL, South Korea — At the tail end of his 90 minute meeting with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev Monday, President Obama said that he would have “more flexibility” to deal with controversial issues such as missile defense, but incoming Russian President Vladimir Putin needs to give him “space.” For more on this story, visit: President [...]

The United States intends to seek additional reductions to its nuclear arsenal in exchange for potential comparable curbs by Russia, President Obama said on Monday (see GSN, Feb. 16). “We can already say with confidence that we have more nuclear weapons than we need,” Reuters quoted Obama as saying in South Korea on Monday, hours [...]

Russia says Kofi Annan’s peace efforts could be the last chance for Syria to avoid plunging into a long-lasting, bloody civil war. The joint UN-Arab special envoy and the Russian President have held talks in Moscow, to discuss ending the violence, and to get both sides in the conflict into talks. Hisham Jaber, from the [...]

MOSCOW — Three days before his meeting with President Obama at a nuclear security summit in South Korea, the outgoing Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, reiterated his objections Friday to NATO’s missile defense plan, saying it would undermine nuclear parity and demanding written proof that Russia is not the ultimate target. The hard-line armaments minister, Dmitry [...]

The UN security council, including Russia and China, on Wednesday threw its weight behind efforts by Kofi Annan to end the bloody conflict in Syria, providing a rare moment of global unity in the face of the year-long crisis. In a statement approved by all 15 members, the council threatened Syria with unspecified “further steps” [...]

Preliminary results show Vladimir Putin securing 63.18 per cent of votes in Russia’s presidential election, with his closest rival Gennady Zyuganov taking 17.33 per cent. So far, the Central Election Commission has counted some 25 per cent of the ballots. Vladimir Zhirinovsky and Mikhail Prokhorov are waging a real political battle for third place, with [...]

Russian and Ukrainian intelligence services have foiled terrorist plans to assassinate Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Russia’s most-wanted terrorist Doku Umarov is thought to be behind the plot. ­The internationally-wanted criminals detained in Ukrainian city of Odessa confessed they had intended to assassinate Putin. The attack was supposed to be carried out in Moscow right after [...]