Russian influence

Turkey's Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan attends the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, on May 22, 2026.

Turkey’s Fidan heads to Moscow as S-400 sanctions issue returns to fore

The visit comes weeks before Turkey hosts NATO leaders, on the sidelines of which Ankara hopes to reach a deal with Washington over CAATSA sanctions over its purchase of Russian S-400s.

AAREF WATAD/AFP via Getty Images

Russia in talks on 'reformatting' its military sites in Syria: What to know

Moscow signals it wants to maintain its presence in Syria, where President Ahmed al-Sharaa recently said that Russian bases will be converted into training centers.

Tatoyan

Interview

Armenia candidate Tatoyan eyes Pashinyan's pro-West mantle in sea of Russia-backed rivals

In an interview from Yerevan, Armenian opposition candidate Arman Tatoyan denies pro-Russian ties and says he would deepen cooperation with the European Union and the United States while pursuing a gradual approach to relations with Moscow.

Arman Tatoyan

Arman Tatoyan

Founder, Wings of Unity Party

US President Donald Trump (L) welcomes Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington, DC, on Aug. 8, 2025.

Feature

Backed by Trump and Turkey, Armenia's Pashinyan eyes third term in pivotal poll

As Russia and the West vie for influence, Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan appears on track to secure a new mandate for his peace agenda with Azerbaijan and rapprochement with Turkey.

Amberin Zaman

By Amberin Zaman

Reporting on geopolitics, minorities, human rights, culture

Latest News

US extends Russian oil sanctions waiver as Iran war squeezes supply

A tugboat guides the Russian oil tanker Anatoly Kolodkin as it arrives at the oil terminal in the port of Matanzas, northwestern Cuba, on March 31, 2026.

Trump speaks with Netanyahu, Putin as Iran pressure campaign escalates

President Donald Trump gives a speech during the State Arrival Ceremony on the South Lawn on April 28, 2026, in Washington.

Iran FM meets Putin, Russia’s military intel chief as talks stall: What to know

Iran FM meets Putin and Russia’s military intel chief as talks stall: What to know

China, Russia veto scaled-back Hormuz resolution at UN Security Council

The Foreign Minister chaired the Security Council session on cooperation between the Gulf Cooperation Council and the United Nations.

ALEXEY DRUZHININ/SPUTNIK/AFP via Getty Images

Iran's Raisi to meet Putin as states mull Taliban recognition

In his first foreign visit as Iran's president, Ebrahim Raisi will sit down with Russian and Pakistani leaders amid new regional dynamics triggered by the US departure from Afghanistan.

Lebanese wait to fill their gas cylinders in the southern city of Sidon amidst a deepening economic crisis, on Aug. 10, 2021.

Lebanese energy plan includes Syria

A meeting of Jordanian, Egyptian, Lebanese and Syrian ministers seems to have cracked Syria's isolation.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Moscow’s permanent representative to International Organizations in Vienna, mets with US Iran Envoy Robert Malley in Vienna, Austria, May 16, 2021.

The Takeaway: Iran nuclear diplomacy creeps forward in Moscow and Paris

Also: Taliban’s success inspires Syrian jihadis; Russia’s delicate diplomacy in Syria and Turkey; Nile dam parley peters out; IDF snared in political rift; Egypt’s Avenue of the Sphinxes; and more … in only about 1,500 words.

Turkish-backed Syrian fighters assemble in the village of Miznaz, on the western outskirts of Aleppo province, on Feb. 14, 2020.

Humanitarian aid entering via conflict lines stirs controversy among Syrian opposition

The Syrian opposition fears the cross-border humanitarian aid mechanism will be replaced by cross-line aid deliveries amid accusations leveled at Hayat Tahrir al-Sham of trying to normalize ties with the Syrian regime and its allies.

Russian S-400 anti-aircraft missile systems move through Red Square during the Victory Day military parade in Moscow on May 9, 2021.

Is Moscow using the S-400 against Turkey?

Ankara denies the suggestion from Moscow that a second batch of S-400s is headed for Turkey and says it is an effort to stall Turkey’s talks with the United States and Europe.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu gives a joint press conference with his Jordanian counterpart at the foreign ministry headquarters in Amman on August 17, 2021.

Russian rebuke of Turkey for Crimea support highlights Ankara's delicate balancing act

Turkey's support for Crimea also highlights the growing value of Ukraine and Crimea for Ankara.

Ambassador Levan Dzhagaryan's meeting with the new head of the British diplomatic mission in Iran Simon Shercliff on the historical stair, where the 1943 Tehran conference was held

Russian, UK envoys ignite fury in Iran with 'inappropriate' restaged photo

A restaged version at the Russian Embassy in Tehran of the historic 1943 photo showing Soviet, American and British "Big Three" leaders at the then-Soviet Embassy angered many Iranians, who have historically seen the 1943 Tehran Conference as a bitter symbol of subordination to world powers.

closed Jaber/Nassib border post as a result of Daraa flare-up

UN Syria envoy urges end to 'siege-like' situation in Daraa

UN Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen said Syrian civilians living under a government siege in the southwestern city are suffering from shortages of fuel, food and medicine.

Muslim worshippers, mask-clad due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, arrive at the courtyard of the historic al-Azhar mosque in the centre of Islamic Cairo to perform the Friday prayers under new pandemic restrictions, in Egypt's capital on Aug. 28, 2020.

Egypt enrolls Russian imams in 'fatwa training program' to combat Brotherhood

Egypt is helping Russia confront extremism, namely Muslim Brotherhood ideology, by training Russian imams in the Dar al-Ifta — including a 'fatwa training program.'

SERGEI CHIRIKOV/AFP via Getty Images

Russia denies siding with Ethiopia in Nile dam dispute

Egypt interprets Russian reluctance to back its position in the GERD dispute as pro-Ethiopian, but Moscow says it is pursuing a balanced position between Cairo and Addis Ababa.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi arrive to make a press statement following the 2019 Russia-Africa Summit at the Sirius Park of Science and Art, Sochi, Russia, Oct. 24, 2019.

Egypt postpones nuclear power plant amid tensions with Russia over Nile dam

Egypt pauses El-Dabaa nuclear power plant project for two years amid tensions hanging over the relationship with Russia due to its recent position on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam crisis and its rapprochement with Ethiopia.

A picture taken on Dec. 4, 2020, shows the production of Russia's Gam-COVID-Vac vaccine against the coronavirus.

Kremlin's vaccine diplomacy finds trouble in Middle East

Deliveries of Russia's Sputnik V coronavirus vaccine are as controversial as the vaccine itself.