Russia

MOSCOW, March 22. /TASS/: It is the results of Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to Russia that matter, not the Western coverage that was predictably hostile, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters on Wednesday.

"Undoubtedly, the most important thing is not the West’s reaction after all, but the results of these talks that have taken place. The main thing is the results of the state visit itself," the Kremlin spokesman said.

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/: The Russian armed forces eliminated more than 155 Ukrainian servicemen and a D-30 howitzer in the Donetsk area in the past 24 hours, the Russian Defense Ministry’s spokesman, Lieutenant-General Igor Konashenkov, reported on Saturday.

"In the Donetsk direction, over 155 Ukrainian servicemen, three armored combat vehicles, five cars and a D-30 howitzer were destroyed as a result of active operations by units and artillery of the southern battlegroup," he said.

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/: 2023 will turn out to be a heterogenous year, but it will be a good, happy year for Russia, the deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, opined in an interview with Russian media, including TASS, and users of the VKontakte social media network.

"I believe that 2023 will be a heterogenous year, dramatic, too, but, on the other hand, it will enable us to answer the most challenging questions. It will reveal the true heroism of our people," the politician said.

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/: In a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday, Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he understood Russia’s intentions to remove obstacles to Russian food exports as part of the grain deal, the Kremlin said.

"The Turkish leader praised Russia’s readiness to extend the Istanbul agreements regarding the export of Ukrainian grain from Black Sea ports and unblock Russian food and fertilizer exports," the Kremlin said in a statement following the telephone call.

MOSCOW, March 25. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting with Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev in the Kremlin on Saturday.

Before the meeting, Putin invited Savelyev to sit closer and the transport minister drew his chair towards him.

"Vitaly Gennadyevich, you and I were scheduled to focus on the issues related to the upcoming operation of the transport industry during the summer vacation period, the spring/summer season and the first part of the fall," the president told Savelyev.

MOSCOW, March 25 (Reuters) - More than 5,000 former criminals have been pardoned after finishing their contracts to fight in Russia's Wagner mercenary group against Ukraine, the founder of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, said on Saturday.

Wagner Group, originally staffed by battle-hardened veterans of the Russian armed forces, took on a much more prominent role in the Ukraine war after the Russian army suffered a series of humiliating defeats last year.

MOSCOW, March 24 (Reuters) - Russia wants to create demilitarised buffer zones inside Ukraine around areas it has annexed, an ally of President Vladimir Putin said on Friday, saying it might be necessary to push deeper into Ukraine if such zones cannot be set up.

More than a year into Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Putin's core war aims remain unfulfilled despite Russian control of nearly a fifth of the country.

MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/: The upgrade of the Tu-160M strategic missile-carrying bomber will enable it to carry new weapons, including advanced armaments, Russia’s state corporation Rostec said on Friday, following a trip by its Director General Sergey Chemezov to the Gorbunov Aviation Plant in Kazan.

MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/: No country is currently protected from "hostile raids" by the United States and its allies, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an article for the Razvedchik (Intelligence Officer) magazine on Friday.

"In general, nobody today is safe from hostile `raids’ by the Americans and their NATO allies," he opined, saying that "apart from Russia, numerous countries are currently being threatened and blackmailed."

MOSCOW, March 24. /TASS/: Russia is not going to lose its leading constructive role in the settlement of conflicts in the post-Soviet space, as it is Moscow’s historical duty, the director of the pan-European cooperation department at the Russian Foreign Ministry Nikolay Kobrinets told TASS in an interview.

"We are not going to lose our constructive role in settling conflicts in the post-Soviet area. This is our historical responsibility. And we will satisfy it despite any obstacles the European Union throws our way," he said.