Markets do not believe George Bush and that's why the U.S. Congress has rejected the $US 700 billion bailout plan proposed by the Bush administration, says RT's business editor Mark Gay.

Jackie Collins is in Moscow for the launch of her new book "Drop Dead Beautiful". The story features one of her fans' favourite characters - Lucky Santangelo. The author spoke exclusively to RT on her second day in Russia.

Despite the debates at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg, most Europeans think it was Russia that launched the war in South Ossetia in August, says Aleksey Urazov, an international political analyst at Moscow State University.

The OSCE and other western organisations will not recognise the recent parliamentary poll in Belarus, believes Dmitry Babich from Russia Profile Magazine.

Robert Bridge from the Moscow News weekly says Europe should think over if it is really interested in U.S. leadership.

Russia's proposed resolution on Iran was approved by all members of the UN security council. This is a good sign of better relations with the west and, of course, with the U.S., says Yury Rogulyov from the Franklin Roosevelt Foundation of Moscow State University.

U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama was more convincing during his first debate with John McCain, believes Anatoly Utkin of the USA and Canada Research Institute.

While they unreasonably blamed Russia for aggression against Georgia, the two U.S. presidential candidates conveniently forgot that America itself was indirectly involved in the conflict, believes political analyst Vladimir Kozin.

Russia's participation in the group of six is an obvious effort to preserve working relations with other countries involved in the Iran talks, says Andrey Zagorsky, political analyst from the Moscow State University of International relations.

The U.S. Congress’ decision to allow NASA to make payments to Russia's Space Agency, its main partner in the International Space Station, is important not only for U.S.-Russia space relations, but for America above all, believes Yury Karash, space analyst from the Russian Academy of Space.

Russia and Venezuela are getting closer not to threaten anybody else but to support each other, says Vladimir Semago, Vice President of the Russia-Venezuela business council.

The T-72 tanks onboard the ship which pirates have seized, with at least 21 crew off the coast of Kenya, has been bought for the country’s government, Editor-in-chief of the Maritime Bulletin – Sovfracht Mikhail Voytenko said to RT.

Russia has not had ties so close with any Latin American country for decades, like it has now with Venezuela,  says editor-in-chief of "Slovo" newspaper Viktor Linnik.

The U.S. is interested in chaos in the North Caucasus which implies that Mikhail Saakashvili's move to attack South Ossetia was masterminded not only by him, insists Georgian opposition leader Aleksandr Chachiya.

Crisis in the Caucasus and the global financial crisis are a priority for Russian FM Sergey Lavrov to discuss during the 63rd UN General Assembly, believes Director of the Franklin Roosevelt Fund of Moscow State University, Yury Rogulev.

Mikhail Troitskiy believes Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and his British counterpart David Miliband will find a point for co-operation. They are meeting on the sidelines of the 63rd UN General Assembly.

There’s very little ground to speak of at the beginning of “the new Cold War” with respect to the Russia-Venezuela joint military exercises, according to Boris Martynov, Deputy Director of the Institute of Latin America.

We plan to become the largest port on the Baltic Sea and one of the world’s 10 largest ports, because necessary cargo flows already exist, says Maksim Shirokov, the director of Ust Luga merchant sea port, under construction near St. Petersburg.

Walking away from the Iran negotiations is a mistake for Russia says Mark Brzezinsky, a partner at the U.S. law firm McGuireWoods and former director for Russia on U.S. National Security Council in his analysis exclusive to RT.

UN has authority but lacks ability to solve global cresses says Dmitry Suslov from the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, a Russian NGO.

The breakdown of a device as large as the Hadron Collider was practically inevitable says Sergey Smirnov from Moscow Engineering Physics Institute.

Tense relations between Russia and the U.S. will prevail as long as Bush is in power says Alexander Pikayev, political analyst with the Committee of Scientists for Global Security.

Even though Russian markets have become more normalised the CEO of Trust Bank, Michael Eggleton, expects further announcements about restructuring.

As the UN General Assembly debates in New York, deputy chairman of the United Nations Association of Russia, Aleksey Borisov joined RT to give his insight on the conflict of views on Russia.

Russia and the U.S. will be forced to co-operate to resolve the Iranian nuclear crisis, says Spencer Boyer of the Washington-based Center for American Progress.

The conflict in South Ossetia will be one of the main topics during the PACE session next week. Things have been improving in terms of Europe's view on Russia's actions, according to member of the European Parliament Guilietto Chiesa.

At the UN General Assembly the Serbian president has made his address. Speaking exclusively to RT Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic shared some details of Belgrade’s new plan to resolve the issue of Kosovo.

"It's a kind of typical game for great powers: if you don't like something, you accuse your opponent of violating the UN Charter," said Andrey Kortunov, President and political analyst of the New Eurasia Foundation.

Russia’s banking sector is consolidating because the crisis affected banks and investors the most. But the government has done everything possible to prevent a 1998-style national default, says RT’s business analyst Daniel Bushell.

Following the recent financial turmoil, investors now have an opportunity to gain large rewards over the long term, says Oliver Tant, Global Head of Private Equity at KPMG.

Analysts say the turmoil in the Russian markets was caused by the global financial crisis. "This is the greatest crisis in history since the 14th century, though it's not yet realised," said Lyndon Larouche, an economist and political activist from the US.

The government is injecting money into Russia’s financial markets to ease the credit squeeze. But the intervention can in no way be compared to US’s bail-out package aimed at resolving the global crisis, says economist Pavel Sorokin.

From September 20 Russians no longer need a visa to get into Israel. 'Today's a big holiday for the Russian travel industry, and I think it's the same for our Israeli partners'. Those are the words of Marina Levchenko, General Director of 'Tari-tur' tour agency.

The Russian stock market is quite shallow in terms of volume and type of investors, but that's a typical problem of growing markets, says Andrey Sharonov, Managing Director of Troika Dialog.

Russia's stock markets have had a rollercoaster ride after trading was suspended on the previous two days. RT business correspondent Daniela Loga takes a look at the events on Friday.

Russia has remained calm in the face of the financial crisis gripping the world. The evidence of this is that people haven’t been pulling their money out of the country’s banks, Evgeny Gantmakher said, Deputy Director of the Social Policy Centre of Russia's Instute of Economy.

Russia's stock markets had a rollercoaster start to trading after a two-day suspension. Business analyst Pavel Sorokin says government intervention helped improve the situation.

The President of the 63rd session of UN General Assembly, Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann, says Russia’s actions against Georgia after an attack on South Ossetia were a justified response. 

RT's business analyst Mark Gay says it's likely that Russian stock markets will move into positive territory on Friday.

Russia’s moving further away from the international community is not in the world’s best interests, believes Spencer Boyer from the Washington-based Center for American Progress. He says the next U.S. administration will need to soften the tough rhetoric against Russia, putting more emphasis on cooperation.

Condoleezza Rice’s comments about “Russia’s isolationism” are only rhetoric and an attempt by the U.S. to appear stronger, says Clifford Gaddy, an economist from the Brookings Institution, Washington DC.

Some smaller banks may fail in the crisis on the Russian market, but a widespread series of bankruptcies is unlikely, believes James Watson, Senior Director of the Financial Institutions Group at Fitch Ratings.

The United Nations has sent a fact-finding team to Tskhinval to get first-hand experience of the war damage. Kirill Koktysh from Moscow State University of Intenational Relations says the experience could affect the UN’s political stance on the situation.

The fallout from the financial crisis in the U.S. has hit Moscow markets with a vengeance. Trading was suspended at the capital’s two exchanges on Tuesday and Wednesday.  RT's business analyst Mark Gay says city traders are fearing for their jobs.

New York and London are losing their role as predominant financial capitals, as the structural crisis hits markets worldwide, says William Wilson from the Vanguard Group Investment Company.

Joining the Russia-Belarus alliance is the best course of action for the new Caucasus states says Dmitry Suslov from the Council for Foreign and Defence Policy, a Russian NGO.

Even though “authorities don’t like markets falling”, suspending trading is not the way to solve the problem. That’s according to Aleksey Moiseev, head of Fixed Income Research at Renaissance Capital.

Georgia is getting enormous support from the West and will quickly be able to recover its ‘military machine’, says Aleksandr Pikaev, from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations. He told RT a revived Georgia could attack again.

Stock markets around the world are still feeling the effects of the credit crunch. Daniel Klein, a lawyer and investment advisor at Hellevig, Klein & Usov, gives his analysis of current turmoil in the financial markets.

After record losses on Tuesday, Russia's markets are continuing their downward slide, despite some minor gains early on. RT's business analyst Mark Gay explained what's happening.

Now Azerbaijan's foreign policy is moving towards more of a balance between the U.S. and Russia, according to Flynt Leverett, Director of Geopolitics of Energy Initiative, Washington DC.

Russia’s major stock exchanges, the RTS and Micex suspended all trade for an hour on Tuesday. There is speculation that the Federal Reserve may cut interest rates further. Tom Mundy, Equity Strategist at Renaissance Capital, gives his views on the issue to RT.

"There have been some really bad days for the market over the last four months, but today's situation is unprecedented," said Eric DePoy, Equity Strategist at Alfa-Bank, as Russia’s major stock exchanges suspended trade for an hour.

'It's impossible to put a Georgian T-shirt on Azerbaijan,' said Sergey Markedonov from the Moscow-based Institute of Political and Military Analysis. He made the remark as the presidents of Azerbaijan and Russia continue talks on both trade and ways to calm tension in the Caucasus.

Russian troops are dismantling their remaining posts in Georgia in accordance with all the points of the Medvedev-Sarkozy agreement, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko in an interview to RT.

NATO is trying to create a kind of a ‘belt’ alliance countries around Russia’s border, extending from Turkey to Georgia, believes political analyst Aleksandr Nikitin. Ukraine and Azerbaijan are likely to get NATO membership as the next step.

The current visit of NATO’s ambassadors to Georgia was planned during, not after, the war in S. Ossetia as a gesture of support to the Georgian officials, says the chairman of the National Prospects Foundation think tank, Aleksey Kuzmin.

Charles Grant – head of the London-based think-tank Centre for European Reform told RT that a greater dialogue is needed between Russia and the West.

Andrew Kuchins – senior fellow at the U.S. Center for the Strategic and International Studies think-tank – joined RT to give his comments on Russian President Medvedev’s speech on global development before the Valdai Discussion club.

A lack of confidence in the business community is behind Russia's stock market slump according to Professor Marshall Goldman, a U.S. based expert on the Russian economy.

The Caucasus war was a wake-up call for everyone that something has dramatically changed in the world, according to Aleksander Rahr, Director of the Russia-Eurasia Programme at the German Council on Foreign Relations, speaking to RT.

Commenting to RT on the Valdai Discussion club meeting in Moscow, Wolfgang Nowak, the director of the Alfred Herrhausen International Forum, said the West should learn to see the world with Russian eyes.

The main thing now is that Russia continue its internal market reforms and develop its democratic institutions, Russian Public Chamber member, Andranik Migranyan, said to RT, commenting on the Valdai Discussion Club meeting in Moscow.

Russia’s relations with the West, after the South Ossetian crisis, can’t be labeled Cold War because the economic, energy and technological ties between Russia and the west are strong says Tatyana Yuryeva from the Moscow State University of International Relations.

One of the most shocking things was the absence of air defence, according to Giulietto Chiesa. A member of the European Parliamen and one of the authors of an Italian-produced documentary "ZERO", investigating the tragedy of 9/11 spoke to RT.

Western European politicians are already sure that Russia is not an occupying force in the Caucasus says Dmitry Suslov, Deputy Director of the Council on Foreign and Defence Policy.

Russia directing its nuclear missiles towards Poland is a logical response to the missle shield says Vitaly Merkushev, Director of the Eurasian Political Studies Network based in Moscow.

The missile shield will make Poland a strategic partner of the US and give it advantages as a newcomer to the EU says Vadim Kozyulin, Director of the Сonventional Arms Programme from the Centre for Policy Studies based in Moscow.

The U.S. Senate has voted to deploy another radar abroad, in an unnamed country. Director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies Ruslan Pukhov believes this country could be Japan, to scan China and North Korea.

Despite a more balanced opinion on the situation in the Caucasus being formed, the world's arms trade with Georgia will not stop says Andrey Kortunov, President and a political analyst of the New Eurasia Foundation.

'We could be able to go back in time up to the 'Big Bang' and investigate how the universe was born,' said a scientist from the Moscow Institute for Physics and Informatics, Sergey Smirnov, who took part in constructing the Large Hadron Collider.

The Large Hadron Collider could help us understand the origin of mass, the difference between matter and anti-matter which will tell us a lot about time, and where we come from, says Themis Bowcock from University of Liverpool, who's participating in the project.

US attempts at global democratisation ignores reality and is reminiscent of Communist International, says Sergey Markedonov, political analyst and specialist in international relations from the Institute for Political and Military Analysis.

“We are just repeating what nature did to the Earth’s atmosphere during billions of years,” says a scientist from the Moscow Institute for Physics and Informatics, Sergey Smirnov, who took part in constructing the Large Hadron Collider.

The OSCE is the right organisation to monitor the ceasefire in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, argues Joao Soares, president of its Parliamentary Assembly.

The majority of the European countries won’t accept Georgia into NATO in a short period of time. The events of August ‘will speak against’ Saakashvili, said  Member of the European Parliament Giulietto Chiesa.

EU countries should not be concerned with the investment plans of the Russian National Welfare Fund since it will focus on bonds and not shares, believes Aleksey Moiseev, Head of Fixed Income research, Renaissance Capital.

The most important thing now is for South Ossetia and Abkhazia to appear as partners in negotiations between the EU and Russia, said Dmitry Danilov, political analyst from the Russian Academy of Science.

The conflict in S. Ossetia has divided opinion in Europe, the U.S. and around the world. Political analyst John Laughland, who joined RT from Paris, says western patrons will drop Saakashvili as quickly as they dropped his predecessor in 2003.

Russia agreed to pull all its peacekeepers from Georgia, once EU monitors arrive and Georgia guarantees not to attack Abkhazia. The Center of Global Problems’ political analyst Victor Sergeev says the EU's motives are unclear.

It is highly unlikely that Georgia will again try to use force against South Ossetia or Abkhazia, says Charles Kupchan, Professor of International Relations at Georgetown University in Washington DC.

At the start of the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict, French public opinion was anti-Russian, according to French novelist Marek Halter.

Russia did not sacrifice any of its principles in talks with the EU, says political analyst Mikhail Troitsky from the Moscow Institute of International Relations.

The plan for peace and stability in South Ossetia will dominate the meeting between Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev, says Artyom Malgin from the Moscow State University of International Relations.

French leader Nicolas Sarkozy is in Moscow for talks with Russia’s President Medvedev. Aleksandr Pikaev, from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations, says the EU position on the recognition of Abkhazia and S. Ossetia is biased.

Medvedev and Sarkozy are likely to do everything they can to prevent leaders from Eastern Europe damaging relations between Russia and the West, according to Viktor Mizin from the Institute of Strategic Assessment in Moscow.

Dick Cheney's tour of the Caucasus region is analysed by Yury Rogulyev from the Department of Political History at Moscow State University.

The recognition of breakaway states is the decision of individual countries, not of the CSTO as a whole says Professor Vladimir Kotlyar from the Diplomatic Academy in Moscow.

The CSTO's support of the breakaway Caucasus states will indicate a balanced, premeditated decision, not the blind following of Russia's politics, according to Kirill Bessonov, political analyst of the Moscow News weekly paper.

Washington’s political involvement in Georgia could “poison” relations with Russia, says the vice president of the U.S. Defense and Foreign Policy studies, Ted Carpenter.

The reason the U.S. backed Georgia in the recent conflict in South Ossetia was to boost NATO’s prestige and to facilitate its eastward expansion, says Dr. Gordon Hahn, a professor at Monterey Institute of International Studies.

The Czech Deputy-FM held talks in the U.S., after which the Czech Republic may get first money transfer to start building a U.S. radar base. Political analyst Kirill Koktysh joined RT to comment on the meeting's results.

More U.S. military aid to Georgia is not off the agenda, according to Mikhail Troitsky, a political analyst from the Moscow State University of International Relations.

Some observers in Russia have accused the western media of bias over the Georgian conflict. Political columnist Norman Solomon has looked at the U.S. propaganda machine in time of war.

Four years after the tragic terrorist attack Beslan remains a town filled with immense grief. Psychiatrist Anna Portnova from the Serbsky National Research Centre for Social and Forensic Psychiatry says all they can do is help people to cope with tragedy.

Russia regrets the EU’s failure to acknowledge Georgia's aggressive role in the Caucasus conflict. Irina Kobrinskaya from the Institute of World Economy and International Relations gives her take on the Brussels summit.

Russia regrets the fact that EU leaders have agreed to put off partnership talks with Russia. Boris Kagarlitsky from the Institute for Globalisation Studies comments on the stance the EU has taken towards the country.

Moscow does not see the implementation of one of the most important points of the Medvedev-Sarkozy plan, that is the return of Georgian troops to their barracks, said Russia’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrey Nesterenko.

EU leaders have condemned Russia’s actions in Caucasus during an extraordinary summit. Member of the European Parliament Giulietto Chiesa is sure that the majority of EU political forces are for constructive continuation of dialogue with Russia.

The threat of sanctions on Russia did not materialise at the EU summit. Political analyst from the Moscow News weekly paper, Kirill Bessonov says that it seems the EU no longer believes the words of Georgian diplomats.

Monday’s summit in Brussels has opened new communication channels between the European Union and Russia, believes the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana. He spoke exclusively to RT soon after the summit concluded.   

As a result of the EU summit, European leaders decided to postpone partnership talks with Russia. In an interview with RT, Russia’s ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov talks about the outcomes of the EU meeting.

An extraordinary EU meeting on the situation in Georgia is coming to an end. Aleksander Pikaev from the Institute for World Economy and International Relations says that criticism of Russia at the summit is unfair and shows the double standards applied by the EU.

EU leaders have gathered for a special summit to discuss the response to the Russia-Georgia conflict. Aleksey Urazov from Moscow State University says the EU and Russia have the common economic interests to secure future relations.

An EU summit on relations with Russia over the conflict in South Ossetia is set to start in Brussels. The Director of the Conventional Arms Program and military analyst Vadim Kozulin says the EU has no moral power for strong sanctions on Russia.