Senior Russian lawmaker warns that calls for long-range strikes open way to nuclear war

The European Parliament's call for lifting restrictions on strikes inside Russia with Western weapons is opening the way to a nuclear world war, State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin said.

Russian State Duma Approves Draft Bill on Recognition of DPR, LPR | Farsnews Agency

(FNA)- The lower house of the Russian Parliament on Tuesday voted in favour of sending a resolution on the recognition of the self-proclaimed Donbass republics to President Vladimir Putin.

Russia's State Duma to discuss two resolutions on recognition of Lugansk, Donetsk - China.org.cn

Vyacheslav Volodin, chairman of Russia's lower house of parliament, the State Duma, said Monday that the parliament would consider two resolutions on the recognition of eastern Ukraine's Lugansk and Donetsk regions as independent.

Moscow: Terrorists used chemical weapons in Syria via Western Europe-made equipment

Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that terrorists used the chemical weapons in Syria through Western Europe-made equipment.

Russian lawmaker comments on Kiev’s idea to demand Russian compensation for ruined Donbas

Head of the Russian State Duma’s international committee Alexey Pushkov calls Kiev’s intentions to demand a compensation for ruined Donbas from Russia hopeless.

Upper house to discuss recognizing Crimea transfer to Ukraine in 1954 illegal (Valentina Matviyenko)

Chairperson of Russia’s Federation Council (upper house) Valentina Matviyenko said on Tuesday she is hopeful that a draft law to recognize the transfer of Crimea to Ukraine in 1954 as illegal will be discussed at the spring session.

Sponsors of the Syrian opposition want to disrupt Geneva-2 - Alexei Pushkov.

Alexei Pushkov, the head of the International Committee of the State Duma believes that it is more in the interests of the foreign sponsors rather than the Syrian opposition to disrupt the international conference on Syria

"19 groups of the Syrian opposition that are not capable of operating without external support, "rejected" the carrying out of Geneva-2. That means that their sponsors are interested in disruption," quoted Pushkov's message in Twitter Interfax.

The fact that nineteen Syrian rebel groups rejected the offer to participate in an international meeting on Syria the Geneva-2 came from Ahmad Issa al-Sheikh’s statement, who is the head of the Islamist group "Sakyur al-Sham."

US confirms Syria chemical weapons use likely....

The White House said on Thursday that Syria had likely used chemical weapons against rebel forces on a "small scale," but emphasized US spy agencies were still not 100 percent sure.

WASHINGTON
 - The White House said on Thursday that Syria had likely used chemical weapons against rebel forces on a "small scale," but emphasized US spy agencies were still not 100 percent sure.
US intelligence services had been investigating reports that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces had used chemical arms -- a move Washington has said would cross a "red line," triggering possible military action.
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel first announced the assessment during a visit to Abu Dhabi, saying the "decision to reach this conclusion was made within the past 24 hours."

Lavrov: ‘Either secure Syria's chemical weapons, or arm its rebels’ (EXCLUSIVE RT)

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As the Syrian war grows more sectarian and violent with each day, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov tells RT that Western powers' habit of dividing terrorists between "bad and acceptable" could have lasting consequences for the whole world.
Syria’s chemical arsenal has become a central point of international concern since the country’s civil conflict flared up in March 2011. Syria is reportedly in possession of nerve agents including mustard gas, while NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen has already accused the country’s government of deploying the Scud missiles needed to deliver it.

Η Κρατική Δούμα ενέκρινε την απάντηση της Ρωσίας στον «νόμο Μαγκνίτσκι»

Η Κρατική Δούμα ενέκρινε σε πρώτη ανάγνωση το νομοσχέδιο «Περί των μέτρων κατά των προσώπων, που εμπλέκονται στην παραβίαση των δικαιωμάτων των πολιτών της Ρωσικής Ομοσπονδίας», το οποίο αποτέλεσε απάντηση στον «νόμο Μαγκνίτσκι», που ψηφίστηκε στις ΗΠΑ.

Το νομοσχέδιο προβλέπει την απαγόρευση εισόδου στην Ρωσική Ομοσπονδία και την κατάσχεση στο έδαφός της όλων των χρηματοοικονομικών και άλλων περιουσιακών στοιχείων των πολιτών των ΗΠΑ, οι οποίοι εμπλέκονται σε σοβαρή παραβίαση των δικαιωμάτων των Ρώσων πολιτών στο εξωτερικό.