Russia

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: The expulsion of two Russian diplomats from the unrecognized republic of Kosovo will not entail consequences for their legal status, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website on Saturday.

"We proceed from the fact that this step of Pristina’s administration will not entail any consequences for the legal status of the mentioned Russian diplomats," she said.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking at a plenary session of the Valdai International Discussion Club has not mentioned the confrontation with the West on the basis of values, it would be silly to perceive this message in that way, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in an interview with the Moscow.Kremlin.Putin program on Rossiya-1 TV channel.

MOSCOW, October 24. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus cases in Russia increased by 35,660 over the past day to 8,241,643 total cases, the anti-coronavirus crisis center said on Sunday.

In relative terms, the COVID-19 incidence stood at 0,43% over the past day.

In particular, over the past day, some 3,297 COVID-19 cases were registered in St. Petersburg, 1,093 cases of the infection were recorded in the Samara Region, 772 - in the Nizhny Novgorod Region, 736 - in the Voronezh Region, 668 - in Bashkortostan.

TASS, October 24: The Kremlin is confident that Moscow's rejection of relations with NATO due to the alliance’s aggressive stance is not a big deal.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: Confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by an all-time high of 37,678 in the past 24 hours to 8,205,983, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Saturday.

Russia registered its all-time highs of the coronavirus case tally for the third straight time. The coronavirus growth rate equaled 0.46%, the latest data show.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: Businessman Telman Ismailov, who is accused of murders and abductions in Russia, has been granted political asylum in Montenegro, since the Zurich prosecutors’ office dropped the money laundering proceedings against him, Marina Rusakova, Ismailov’s lawyer, told TASS on Saturday adding that this factor was decisive in her client’s release from extradition detention.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: The expulsion of two Russian diplomats from the unrecognized republic of Kosovo will not entail consequences for their legal status, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in a statement posted on the ministry’s website on Saturday.

"We proceed from the fact that this step of Pristina’s administration will not entail any consequences for the legal status of the mentioned Russian diplomats," she said.

MOSCOW, October 23. /TASS/: Moldova’s gas crisis has been caused by the Moldovan authorities, as the debt for the supplied gas amounts to $433 million, Spokesman for the Russian gas giant Gazprom Sergei Kupriyanov said.

"Currently, the situation with the supply of Russian gas to Moldova is very thorny. The Moldovan authorities are entirely to blame for this. We are talking about the crisis of non-payment by Moldova for Russian gas," he said.

He explained that the republic had accumulated a debt for the already delivered gas.

MOSCOW, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Russia's defence minister accused NATO on Saturday of gradually gathering forces near Russia's borders and being unwilling to discuss European security with Moscow on equal terms, Interfax news agency reported.

Shoigu's comments were the latest sign of mounting tension between Russia and NATO after defence ministers from the Western alliance agreed a new plan on Thursday to defend against any potential Russian attack on multiple fronts.

MOSCOW, Oct 23 (Reuters) - Russian and Chinese warships held their first joint patrols in the Western part of the Pacific ocean on October 17-23, Russia's defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

Moscow and Beijing, which staged naval cooperation drills in the Sea of Japan earlier in October, have cultivated closer military and diplomatic ties in recent years at a time when their relations with the West have soured.