Russia

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/: The West tried to hit Russian citizens themselves with sanctions, Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin said on Thursday in his annual government report to the State Duma.

"In the very beginning, the West tried to assure us that the sanctions were not aimed against our citizens. At that time there were no illusions about it, but now even a person far from global politics understands: the main target was the Russian people," the head of the Russian Cabinet of Ministers pointed out.

SOCHI, March 23. /TASS/: Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov noted positive dynamics in the sphere of military and military-technical cooperation with Burundi.

"We have good contacts in the line of law enforcement agencies. Burundian representatives traditionally take part in the annual special meetings of high representatives in charge of security issues. There is a positive dynamic in the sphere of military and military-technical ties," the Russian top diplomat pointed out on Thursday at a press conference following talks with Burundian counterpart Albert Shingiro.

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/: There are situations where agreements are counterproductive and one needs to take steps like launching a special military operation, Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said in an interview with Russian media outlets, including TASS, and users of the VKontakte social media network.

MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has held a phone call with Sultan of Oman Haitham bin Tariq Al Said, the Kremlin press service reported.

This was the first telephone conversation between the two countries’ leaders since the establishment of diplomatic relations. The call was initiated by Oman.

MOSCOW, March 23 (Reuters) - Any attempt to arrest President Vladimir Putin after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued a warrant for the Kremlin chief would amount to a declaration of war against Russia, his ally Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday.

The ICC issued an arrest warrant on Friday, accusing Putin of the war crime of illegally deporting hundreds of children from Ukraine. It said there are reasonable grounds to believe that Putin bears individual criminal responsibility.

ULYANOVSK, March 21. /TASS/: The United States and its minions are trying to turn the world against Russia by sowing hatred against the country and attempting to discredit it, Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev said on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, March 21. /TASS/: Supplies of depleted-uranium shells to Kiev will force Moscow to ponder how it can respond, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said on Tuesday.

"This leads us to seriously think about the further course of developments and about how we can respond to this," Shoigu said in an excerpt of an interview for the "Moscow. Kremlin. Putin" program on Rossiya-1 television that journalist Pavel Zarubin posted on his Telegram channel.

March 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday condemned British plans to send tank ammunition that contains depleted uranium to Ukraine, saying Moscow would be forced to respond accordingly.

Speaking in London on Monday, Minister of State for Defence Annabel Goldie said some of the ammunition for the Challenger 2 battle tanks that Britain is sending to Ukraine includes armour piercing rounds which contain depleted uranium.

March 21 (Reuters) - Two Russian strategic bomber planes flew over the Sea of Japan for more than seven hours, the Russian defence ministry said on Tuesday in a statement released as Japan's prime minister was beginning a visit to Ukraine.

The Tupolev Tu-95MS planes are capable of carrying nuclear weapons and Moscow regularly flies them over international waters in the Arctic, North Atlantic and Pacific as a show of strength.

March 21 (Reuters) - Russian President Vladimir Putin said after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on Tuesday that Chinese proposals could be used as the basis of a peace settlement in Ukraine, but that the West and Kyiv were not yet ready.

In a joint statement issued at the end of Xi's state visit to Moscow, the two men cautioned against any steps that might push the Ukraine conflict into an "uncontrollable phase", adding pointedly that there could be no winners in a nuclear war.