Russia

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS: The Pentagon has plans to transfer programs of biological research from Ukraine to post-Soviet republics, Eastern European and Baltic states at the shortest possible time to move close to Russian borders, Lieutenant General Igor Kirillov, chief of the Radiation, Chemical and Biological Defense Forces of the Russian Armed Forces, said on Saturday.

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: All factors, "including the security factor," will be taken into account when deciding if Russian President Vladimir Putin is to participate in the G20 summit in Indonesia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with Pavel Zarubin for the ‘Moscow. Kremlin. Putin’ program, a fragment of which was published on Sunday on the journalist's Telegram channel.

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: Russia’s COVID-19 case tally rose by 48,042 over the past day to 19,729,423, the anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

A day earlier, 51,699 daily cases were recorded.

As many as 2,239 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 in Russia over the past day, down 41.8% from a day earlier. The number of hospitalized patients increased in eight regions, while in 74 regions the figure decreased. The situation remained unchanged in three regions. A day earlier, 3,849 people were rushed to hospitals.

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: Members of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) mission, who remained working at the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, plan to leave on September 6, but may extend their stay at the plant, Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the military-civilian administration of the Zaporozhye Region, said on Sunday.

MOSCOW, September 4. /TASS/: Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan and his Mongolian counterpart Luvsannamsrayn Oyun-Erdene, as well as representatives of China and Myanmar will take part in the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum together with Russian President Vladimir Putin on September 7, the Kremlin press service reported on Sunday.

MOSCOW, Sept. 4 (Xinhua) -- Moscow will take serious retaliatory measures if the EU formally introduces visa restrictions on Russian citizens, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Sunday.

Russia is closely monitoring the EU decision and the retaliation, symmetrical or not, will definitely meet Russia's interests, Peskov told a local TV program without disclosing what the retaliatory steps could be.

Foreign ministers of the EU member states agreed to suspend a visa facilitation agreement the bloc has with Russia, EU top diplomat Josep Borrell said on Wednesday.

VLADIMIR, September 3. /TASS/: The majority of thinking people the world over realize that it is Russia who is on the side of truth and is doing its best to thwart a global Nazi comeback, Foreign Intelligence Service Director Sergey Naryshkin said on Saturday.

"Most thinking people across the globe find it obvious that it is Russia who is on the side of truth, fighting aggression and doing its best to prevent a global Nazi comeback," he told An opening ceremony for the Victory Dictation 2022 international patriotic action in Vladimir.

MOSCOW, September 3. /TASS/: The nuclear arsenal is the best guarantee of preserving Russia, Deputy Head of the Russian Security Council Dmitry Medvedev wrote on his Telegram channel.

Commenting on what he described as colossal Soviet nuclear arsenal left in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union, he said: "The entire strategic nuclear arsenal was then left in this country. And we have been preserving it at a very high level. And that is the best guarantee of preserving Russia’s might," Medvedev said with confidence.

MOSCOW, Sept. 3 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan exchanged views on bilateral ties during a phone call on Saturday.

Putin and Erdogan reaffirmed their commitment to expanding trade and economic relations between the two countries, including promoting joint strategic projects in the energy sector, the Kremlin said in a statement.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russians who came for a last look at former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev on Saturday mourned both the man and his policies that gave them hope. President Vladimir Putin claimed to be too busy to attend.

Gorbachev, who died Tuesday at age 91, launched drastic reforms that helped end the Cold War. But he also precipitated the breakup of the Soviet Union, which Putin had called the 20th century’s “greatest geopolitical catastrophe.”