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Russia

July 15, 2026

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Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pose after signing a defense partnership agreement on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Wednesday, July 8, 2026.

Analysis

From S-400s to SAMP/T: Turkey’s defense pivot gathers pace after NATO summit

Turkey is seeking to turn the diplomatic momentum from the Ankara NATO summit into a broad defense realignment spanning US sanctions relief and fighter technology, European air defenses and deeper military cooperation with the UK.

Barin Kayaoglu

By Barin Kayaoglu

In Ankara, reporting on geopolitics and national security

AFP via Getty Images

In first, Russia confirms S-400 talks with Turkey amid transfer reports to acquire F-35

On Friday, the Kremlin spokesperson provided the first confirmation that Turkey and Russia have held discussions about Ankara's efforts to resolve the S-400 issue with Washington.

Latest News

Russia’s Rosatom says staff to return to Iran’s Bushehr nuclear plant: What to know

A picture taken on Nov. 10, 2019, shows workers on the construction site of a second reactor in Iran's Bushehr nuclear power plant, during an official ceremony to kick-start the works at the facility.

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

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

Israeli state aircraft Wing of Zion, which flew to Greece from Ben Gurion Airport, is seen at International Airport in Athens on June 13, 2025, in Athens, Greece.

Israeli-Russian journalist removed from Netanyahu’s US flight: What to know

Israeli-Russian journalist Nick Kolyohin was removed from the official Israeli Wing of Zion plane just before its departure for Washington, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is scheduled to meet President Donald Trump.

A Russian military Ilyushin Il-76 strategic airlift aircraft takes off from Qamishli International Airport in northeastern Syria's Hasakah province on January 27, 2026. Russia withdrew troops and equipment on January 27 from the airport in Kurdish-held northeast Syria where its forces were based, as Kurdish forces who once controlled swathes of territory in the country's north and east have withdrawn in the face of military pressure of Syrian army advance while the country's new Islamist authorities seek to

Russian delegation in Syria to preserve military bases: What to know

Russian and Syrian military officials have held a series of reciprocal exchanges and visits in recent weeks, as the Kremlin continues to view Syria as a key military vantage point.

Ali Larijani, Secretary of Iran's Supreme National Security Council, arrives in Beirut, Lebanon, on Sept. 27, 2025, to attend a memorial service for Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah.

Putin meets Iran’s top security official as Trump says Tehran wants deal

President Donald Trump said on Friday that Iran is seeking a nuclear deal but declined to specify a timeline for negotiations.

MAXIM SHIPENKOV / AFP via Getty Images

UAE President meets Putin in Russia to discuss nuclear energy, trade, Iran

The visit of Emirati President Sheikh Mohammed comes a day after the Kremlin hosted President Ahmed al-Sharaa to discuss the future of Russian military bases in Syria.

MAXIM SHIPENKOV / AFP via Getty Images

Sharaa, Putin meet in Moscow after Russia's abrupt pullout from Syria base

Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa’s visit to Moscow, his second in four months, comes days after Russia began withdrawing its forces and evacuating equipment from its military base in northeast Syria.

Ramil Sitdikov / AFP via Getty Images

Putin offers $1B in frozen assets for Gaza Board of Peace — will US unfreeze them?

It remains unclear how such an arrangement could be implemented, since any contribution from frozen assets would require formal unblocking by the US government.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin (L) and Palestinian Authority President Mahmud Abbas (R) arrive for their talks in Moscow on May 10, 2025.

Russia to host PA’s Abbas as Putin mulls joining Trump's Gaza Board of Peace

President Mahmoud Abbas’ visit will coincide with the signing ceremony of the Trump administration's Board of Peace charter on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday.

Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad Al-Shibani addresses delegates during a day of dialogue with Syrian civil society on Nov. 15, 2025.

Syria's Shibani talks defense, economic ties with Russia's Putin during Moscow visit

The visit is the second to Russia for Syrian Foreign Minister Asaad al-Shibani and Defense Minister Maj. Gen. Murhaf Abu Qasra, and follows other signs of rapprochement.

KEMAL ASLAN/AFP via Getty Images

Analysis

Turkey rebuffs air-defense criticism after drone shot down near Ankara

The incident near the capital has sparked debate over response and raised questions over Turkey’s defense capabilities.

Ezgi Akin

In Ankara, reporting on diplomacy, EU-Turkey ties, NATO

Brig. Gen. Alireza Elhami, pictured in this undated image, has been appointed as the commander of Iran’s Air Defense Headquarters.

Iran appoints new air defense, air force chiefs in post-war shakeup

The promotion of Brig. Gen. Alireza Elhami and Brig. Gen. Bahman Behmard follows Iran's efforts to rebuild its air defenses following the war with Israel in June.

TATYANA MAKEYEVA/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Analysis

Iran’s FM Araghchi in Moscow as biting sanctions drive closer Russia ties

The economic agenda of the meetings in Moscow and Tehran reflected a deliberate effort by both governments to signal momentum in a partnership increasingly shaped by isolation from the West.

A correspondent in Tehran

By A correspondent in Tehran

In Tehran, reporting on politics

The Soyuz MS-15 rocket carrying three crew members of the International Space Station (ISS) blasts off to the ISS from the launch pad of the Russian-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Sept. 25, 2019.

Russia to launch 3 Iranian satellites into orbit this month: What to know

The upcoming launch will be the second time Russia’s Soyuz rockets have carried Iranian-made satellites into space.