Economic cooperation between the countries has been growing at a record pace, according to Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak
Iran is expected to enter the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union (EEU) in the near future, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak revealed on Tuesday.
“We agreed to remove all barriers that currently exist in the way of developing trade between our countries. And we are talking about lowering barriers at the borders of third countries,” Novak said during a meeting of the intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation between Russia and Iran.
The EEU, which is based on the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan, and Belarus, was established in 2015. It was later joined by Armenia and Kyrgyzstan. In 2016, Vietnam officially became the first non-regional country to become a member of the bloc. The union is designed to ensure the free movement of goods, services, capital, and workers between member nations.
More than 50 countries and international organizations, including China, Indonesia, Jordan, Thailand, and some South American countries, have expressed an interest in a free-trade deal with the EEU.
According to Novak, the volume of trade between Russia and Iran has been growing at a “record pace.” It was up by over 36% in January-August in annual terms, hitting $3.3 billion. The Deputy PM expressed confidence the figure could soon reach $4 billion......more below
https://www.rt.com/business/565730-iran-russia-free-trade-zone/
Accepting the Washington-based lender’s plan would be a “disgrace” for Dakar, the African state’s prime minister has said
Senegal has rejected a debt-restructuring proposal put forward by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The West African country’s prime minister, Ousmane Sonko, said following the plan would amount to a national “disgrace.”
Sonko made the remarks at a rally in the capital, Dakar, on Sunday, days after the Washington-based lender concluded a two-week mission to Senegal without a new financing deal.
Senegal’s public debt has risen to over $11 billion amid the discovery of $7 billion in undeclared loans. The IMF has since frozen a $1.8 billion lending facility to the former French colony, citing misreporting and hidden debt.
Senegalese President Bassirou Diomaye Faye, who came to power in April 2024, has blamed his predecessor, Macky Sall, for the debt crisis.....more here
https://www.rt.com/africa/627581-senegal-rejects-imf-debt-restructuring-proposal/
While Washington dreams of a Golden Dome, Beijing is quietly building one that actually works
When Donald Trump unveiled the Golden Dome in May 2025, he promised nothing less than a revolution in American security – a $175-billion missile defense shield designed to intercept any threat to the United States.
Modeled on Ronald Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative, the new project envisions an integrated network of satellites, next-generation interceptors, radars, and laser weapons extending from the Earth’s surface to outer space. The ambition is clear: complete, preemptive, and absolute protection by 2029.
Yet behind the spectacle of technological grandeur lies a troubling pattern. No concrete system architecture has been presented, and early projections suggest the true cost could triple the official figure. More importantly, the concept of “absolute security” signals an enduring American desire for unipolar dominance – one that undermines, rather than reinforces, global ...
The overthrow of PM Sheikh Hasina in 2024 was funded by USAID and Clinton family money, Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury told RT
The unwillingness of Bangladesh to condemn Russia over the Ukraine conflict was one of the reasons the US wanted to oust Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former cabinet minister and chief negotiator Mohibul Hasan Chowdhury has said in an interview with RT.
Hasina, who led Bangladesh for 15 years, fled the country in August 2024, following weeks of violent student-led protests which claimed 700 lives, according to some estimates.
Chowdhury, who served as the country’s shipping minister, was at the heart of negotiations between the authorities in Dhaka and demonstrators during the crisis. The country has been led by an interim government since then, which pledged to hold an election in 2026.
Chowdhury told RT in an exclusive interview to be aired on Monday that the uprising was instigated by NGOs linked to the US Agency for International Development (USAID) and the ...
