Israel and the United States sent a secret military delegation to Ukraine to test the Russian-made S-300 missile defense system, which Moscow recently provided to Syria, Hadashot TV news reported Monday, citing Syrian and Russian news outlets.
Special Counsel Robert Mueller is set to issue findings of some of the core aspects of his investigation into the alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia shortly after the November midterm elections, Bloomberg reported.
Republican lawmakers have hinted for months that the FBI failed to provide federal judges on the surveillance court with information that undercut the government’s premise for opening the Trump-Russia probe in 2016.
The European Union on Monday unveiled a legal framework to allow sanctions against the use of chemical weapons.
The disappearance of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has hardened resistance in the U.S. Congress to selling weapons to Saudi Arabia, already a sore point for many lawmakers concerned about the humanitarian crisis created by Yemen’s civil war.
In four weeks, Americans go to the polls for the midterm elections that the news media are casting as a referendum on the Trump presidency. Over the summer, the broadcast networks have continued to pound Donald Trump and his team with the most hostile coverage of a President in TV news history — 92 percent negative, vs. just eight percent positive.
Russia provided the advanced S-300 air defense system to Syria’s military free of charge, transferring three battalions with eight launchers each to the Assad regime, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported Monday.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet shortly for the first time since relations were badly strained following last month’s Syrian downing of a Russian intelligence plane.
An Israeli official played down on Wednesday the Russian upgrading of Syria’s air defenses, saying the newly supplied S-300 missile system could be defeated by Israel’s stealth fighters and possibly destroyed on the ground.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said Wednesday the Russian delivery of the S-300 air defense system to Syria was ‘a serious escalation.’
The U.S. ambassador to NATO put Russia “on notice” Tuesday, threatening to destroy an intermediate-range missile that sits well within range of NATO allies.
Russia said Tuesday it had completed delivering its S-300 advanced anti-aircraft system to Syria, weeks after it blamed Israel for the downing of one of its spy planes by a less-sophisticated Syrian air defense missile.
A senior Israeli official said that Russia’s decision to provide advanced anti-aircraft systems to Syria posed a serious challenge for the Jewish state, but added that Israel was working on ways to prevent the development from becoming a major threat to the country’s security.
Special counsel Robert Mueller is shedding more attorneys, another sign that his team of prosecutors has begun winding down parts of their investigation.
Syria’s Foreign Minister Walid Muallem addressed the UN General Assembly on Saturday with a focus on what the regime intends to do about the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights. He declared that Damascus aims to recapture the territory from Israel after Syrian regime forces have retaken areas opposite the Israeli border during a recent Russian-backed offensive.
The secretary of Iran’s Supreme National Security Council has said Israel will be sorry if it continues to attack Syria’s army and its allies.
The United States is pulling some of its anti-aircraft and missile batteries out of the Middle East, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing US military officials.
U.S. Special Representative for International Negotiations Jason Greenblatt on Monday refuted a report claiming that President Donald Trump was planning to rebuke Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly in New York this week.
The IDF will continue to strike at Iranian targets in Syria, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday, one day after Russia announced plans to bolster that country’s defenses by transferring the advanced S-300 anti-missile system there within two weeks.
Both Jerusalem and Washington warned Russia on Monday evening against its declared intention to provide the Syrian military with advanced surface-to-air missiles within two weeks, saying the move would further destabilize the region and increase already high tensions.