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France, Germany, and at least 10 other European nations sold £230million worth of military hardware and defensive kits to Moscow which was used by Kremlin during the war in Ukraine, an EU analysis revealed. The selling of the weapon systems was apparently ‘illegal’ under the EU embargo that bans the arms sale to Russia after the 2014 annexation of Crimea by the Russians. Primarily, France, Germany and Italy have exploited the loophole in the arms embargo and exported missiles, rockets, guns and bombs to Moscow, as first reported by UK’s The Telegraph.

What Six Years of ‘Reset’ with Russia Have Wrought by CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER August 27, 2015 On September 5, 2014, Russian agents crossed into Estonia and kidnapped an Estonian security official. Last week, after a closed trial, Russia sentenced him to 15 years. The reaction? The State Department issued a statement. The NATO secretary-general issued a tweet. Neither did anything. The European Union (reports the Wall Street Journal) said it was too early to discuss any possible action. The timing of this brazen violation of NATO territory — two days after President Obama visited Estonia to symbolize America’s commitment to its...

President Joe Biden's administration has temporarily paused some pending arms sales to U.S. allies in order to review them, a U.S. State Department official said on Wednesday. Reviews of this sort are typical for a new administration, but Donald Trump's administration was doing deals down to the wire, including one for 50 stealthy F-35 jets made by Lockheed Martin as a side deal to the Abraham accords inked only moments before Biden was sworn into office. The Department is temporarily pausing the implementation of some pending U.S. defense transfers and sales under Foreign Military Sales and Direct Commercial Sales to...

The Trump administration has approved the potential sale of up to 100 Boeing-made Harpoon Coastal Defence Systems (HCDS) and related equipment to Taiwan in a deal that is estimated to be worth nearly $2.4 billion, the State Department said on Monday.The department has notified Congress of the proposed sale that includes the HCDS and 400 RGM-84L-4 Harpoon Block II Surface Launched Missiles to serve as coastal defence cruise missiles as the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in Beijing continues its war posturing toward the democratically-ruled island. It is estimated to cost around $2.37 billion. .@StateDept authorizes a Foreign Military Sales...

WASHINGTON—The Trump administration has approved the sale of more than a billion dollars worth of advanced weaponry for Taiwan in a move that will enrage China and further exacerbate tensions between Washington and Beijing that have are already heated over issues such as trade, Tibet, Hong Kong, and the South China Sea. The State Department announced Wednesday it had greenlighted the sale of 135 precision land attack missiles, associated equipment, and training to Taiwan to improve its defense capabilities. The package is worth just over a billion dollars, it said in a statement. The missiles are made by Boeing. “This...

Amid ongoing conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, Armenian Jews urge Israel to end weapons sales to Azerbaijan.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford urged to back off plans to cut funding ($550 million contract for Rosoboronexport, Russian supplier of the Mi-17), claiming it would have a “catastrophic” effect on Afghanistan’s ability to conduct operations. By the end this year, U.S. will abandon its position in Afghanistan. Russian forces who will replace US are flight ready with the Mi-17, though many would prefer American class equipment.

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz had a simple message for the Trump administration during Wednesday's hearing on foreign arms sales: "Follow the damn law." Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have been critical of the administration's decision to declare an emergency earlier this year in order to expedite billions of dollars in arms sales to various countries -- including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates -- but Cruz's particularly blunt warning about efforts to bypass Congress stands out due to his reputation as a polarizing figure on Capitol Hill. Sen. Chris Coons, a Democrat from Delaware, noted that...

By Tim Devaney - 05/26/15 12:04 PM EDT The State Department under Hillary ClintonHillary Rodham ClintonTrump breaks from McConnell: Clinton 'not capable' Clinton camp: Trump's fundraising 'bragging is total bunk' Warren to J.K. Rowling: Can I teach magic? MORE authorized arms sales to countries that had donated millions of dollars to the Clinton Foundation, according to a new report.State approved $165 billion worth of weapons sales to 20 foreign governments during Clinton's tenure, the International Business Times reports. Among the countries involved in the sales were Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. The Clinton...

The Kremlin has hit out at a video promoting the US presidential hopeful Donald Trump, complaining it demonises Russia’s image. “I saw this clip. I do not know for sure if Vladimir Putin saw it. [But] our attitude is negative,” the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. The video posted to Trump’s Instagram account attempts to cast doubt over the Democratic party frontrunner Hillary Clinton’s ability to deal with Putin and the US’s opponents in general, showing the Russian leader easily throwing an opponent in a judo bout.

Why — and how — Russia won in Syria By Josh Cohen March 15, 2016 Here’s what Russia achieved — and why it was so successful. First — and most importantly — Russian bombing turned the tide of the war in Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s favor. Second, Putin recently achieved an important diplomatic objective by forcing the United States to acknowledge that Russia plays a key role in determining Syria’s future. Third, Putin responded to Turkey’s shoot down of a Russian jet by humiliating Ankara, an emerging rival in the Middle East and Central Asia. Putin also grievously wounded Turkey’s...

What Quagmire? Even in Withdrawal, Russia Stays a Step Ahead By MARK LANDLERMARCH 15, 2016 WASHINGTON — For five years, President Obama has steadfastly rejected the argument that the United States could intervene in Syria, alter the equation on the battlefield and avoid being sucked into a quagmire. Now, it appears that President Vladimir V. Putin has done exactly that.

As reported around the world, Russia’s decision to greatly reduce its military presence in Syria, coming as it did with little warning, has left the world struggling for explanations. After having rescued the Syrian Government’s position in Syria from certain defeat and securing a partial truce along with the onset of an imminent peace conference, the partial withdrawal is seen by many as a message to the Assad government to not take Russia’s military aid for granted, and to be more flexible in the upcoming peace negotiations. If we assume that all wars are essentially trade wars grown large, and...

Vladimir Putin’s announcement on Monday that Russia will begin pulling out of Syria appeared to take the White House by surprise, and revived concerns that the Russian leader is outmaneuvering Barack Obama. Just six months after he threw international relations into a tailspin by launching airstrikes in Syria, Putin on Monday declared that "the tasks put before the defense ministry have been completed over all,” adding that he had ordered that "the main part" of Russian forces in Syria would be withdrawn.

KA-52 via Fedor Leukhin/Wikicommons Russia says that its pullout from its air base in Syria will be complete in just two or three more days, but it is leaving behind a more potent attack helicopter force than what was ever there before. Both the Mi-28 and the KA-52 attack helicopters have been spotted around the base within the last 24 hours. Here’s why the Kremlin is upping its combat helicopter capability just as it is pulling its fixed wing fighter and attack aircraft. Mi-28s in action. Photo credit Yevgeny Volkov/wikicommons Throughout Russia’s military involvement in the Syrian conflict it has...

Russia says that its pullout from its air base in Syria will be complete in just two or three more days, but it is leaving behind a more potent attack helicopter force than what was ever there before. Both the Mi-28 and the KA-52 attack helicopters have been spotted around the base within the last 24 hours. Here’s why the Kremlin is upping its combat helicopter capability just as it is pulling its fixed wing fighter and attack aircraft.

Yahoo Canada News - "HORRIBLE PHOTOS reveal ISIS marched 21 Coptic Christians to beach, beheaded them all" Image via Twitter/ @trscoop / The Right Scoop CAIRO (Reuters) - Islamic State released a video on Sunday purporting to show the beheading of a group of Egyptian Christians kidnapped in Libya, violence likely to deepen Cairo's concerns over security threats from militants thriving in the neighboring country's chaos. Egypt's state news agency MENA quoted the spokesman for the Coptic Church as confirming that 21 Egyptian Christians believed to be held by Islamic State were dead. In the video, militants in black...

Analysis: U.S. fighter sales soar in time for campaign WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Booming Middle East purchases of U.S. fighter jets will be a bright spot in what is expected to be a sluggish economy in 2012, possibly paying dividends for President Barack Obama's bid for a second term. Beneficiaries include Lockheed Martin Corp and Boeing Co, whose respective F-16 and F-15 production lines are being extended by U.S. government sales to Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Oman, among other rich arms deals announced in recent weeks. The foreign sales will help offset expected cuts in big-ticket purchases by the Defense Department,...

France puts sale of heavy military hardware to Pakistan on hold France said Friday it has put on hold the sale of heavy military equipment to Pakistan and awaits an explanation on its spy agency's role in the 2008 Mumbai terror strike and in providing a safe haven for Al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden, who was killed in a US strike May 2. It has also expressed the hope that Pakistan's dialogue with US on terrorism would throw light on questions that have cropped up in the wake of Osama's killing on its soil, reported IANS. French Defence Minister...

TEL AVIV, Israel, May 24 (UPI) -- Russia's recent expulsion of the military attache at the Israeli Embassy in Moscow on charges of spying has been linked to the Jewish state's efforts to impede the sale of Russian weapons systems to Iran, Syria and Arab states. One report from Moscow, quoting an unidentified Russian security official, said the Israeli, Col. Vadim Leiderman, had engaged in "industrial espionage -- or rather his overly active work on behalf of certain Israeli companies on the Russian market." But Russia's Federal Security Service, known as the FSB, said in an official statement that Leiderman,...