American Committee for US-Russia Accord

The year ahead will carve a more defined path for NATO countries looking to upgrade or replace air and missile defense systems. Here’s a look at the state of play in several countries that are close to making critical procurement decisions in a missile defense market projected to be worth more than $100 billion in the next 15 years…

A new appraisal names the United States as one of the threats to Russia’s national security for the first time, a sign of how relations with the west have deteriorated in recent years.

The document, “About the Strategy of National Security of Russian Federation”, was signed by President Vladimir Putin on New Year’s Eve. It replaces a 2009 version, endorsed by then- President Dmitry Medvedev, the current prime minister, which mentioned neither the United States not NATO.

Dec 30 The leaders of Russia, Ukraine, France and Germany have agreed to extend the Minsk peace accord on Ukraine into 2016, the Kremlin said in a statement on Wednesday, following a phone call between the four leaders.

Extension of the agreement was widely expected as a ceasefire has been broadly holding in eastern Ukraine since September, though sporadic clashes have continued between pro-Russian separatists and Ukrainian government forces and many of the agreement’s terms are far from being implemented.

Gunmen have shot and killed one person and wounded 11 others at the Derbent citadel in Dagestan, a Unesco World Heritage site in the North Caucasus.

A tourist group was attacked on Tuesday night outside the fortress in Derbent, one of Russia’s most ancient towns.

Russia has released dramatic images of what officials claim to be a successful strikes targeting ISIS’s oil-smuggling tankers in northern Syria, without being more specific on their location.

“We’ve attacked many terrorist bases, hits were identified on targets and much damage was caused to the terrorist infrastructure,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement this week following the release of the footage.

The Russian Defense Ministry is accusing the Pentagon of fighting the Islamic State in ‘word only’ after the U.S. military refused to share targeting and intelligence information with Vladimir Putin’s forces.

Pentagon spokeswoman Michelle Baldanza recently said the U.S. would not “cooperate with Russia on Syria until they change their strategy of supporting Assad and instead focus on ISIL.”

A ship carrying 25,000lb (11,000kg) of low-enriched uranium left Iran for Russiaon Monday, marking one of the most vital steps yet in a high-stakes deal to deny Iran a nuclear weapon.

“I am pleased to report that we have seen important indications of significant progress towards Iran completing its key nuclear commitments under the deal,” Secretary of State John Kerry said.