China holds all the cards when it comes to rare earth elements (REE) extraction, processing, and supply, Jeff J. Brown, China expert and founder of the Seek Truth From Facts Foundation, tells Sputnik.

Beijing's control over the global supply chain of key rare earths “gives it an ‘assassin’s mace’ in geoeconomics,” Mohammed Saqib, secretary general of the India-China Economic and Cultural Council, tells Sputnik.

If Ukraine accepts Putin’s ceasefire proposal for Victory Day on May 9 it will hand Russia a goodwill political win, ex-Swedish army officer and defense politician Mikael Valtersson tells Sputnik.

The request for untested hypersonic missiles for the Middle East arena exposes the US' failure to neutralize Iran’s launcher network, veteran war correspondent Elijah J. Magnier tells Sputnik.

ANKARA (Sputnik) - Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Vershinin on Thursday to discuss current issues of cooperation between Ankara and Moscow, the Russian Embassy in Turkiye said on Thursday.

Pakistan's IT minister, Shaza Fatima Khawaja, says the government has signed agreements with Central Asian states, aiming to establish Pakistan as a regional hub for data transit.

Donald Trump’s support of Vladimir Putin’s proposal for a Victory Day ceasefire in the Ukrainian conflict is a de facto ultimatum that puts Ukraine in a no-win situation, Boris Rozhin of the Center for Military-Political Journalism tells Sputnik.

Two residents of Moscow recruited by Ukraine hung hammers with traces of brown liquid on the entrance doors of the officials' apartments, the Investigative Committee specified.

Kirill Dmitriev, the head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and special presidential representative for investment and economic cooperation with foreign countries was right in his forecast of rising oil prices and its consequences, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - White House officials are set to visit Venezuela today to announce several agreements that could create opportunities for oil and mining companies to operate in the country, Politico reported on Thursday, citing sources.

TEHRAN (Sputnik) - Iran will respond with long-term strikes to the US attack, even if it is short-term, Majid Mousavi, the commander of the aerospace forces of the Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), said on Thursday.

The core motivation to orchestrate a coup was to revert the nationalization of Iranian oil by the country’s authorities, international relations expert Somayeh Pasandideh tells Sputnik.