Russia

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/: Moscow condemns the terror attack in Damascus that was carried out in an attempt to obstruct the political settlement in Syria and thwart the establishment of security in the capital, Russian Foreign Ministry said in a commentary regarding the explosion of a bus with Syrian servicemen. 

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has supported the government’s decision to declare non-working days from October 30 to November 7 in light of the unfavorable epidemiological trends. The regions where the situation is the worst may do so earlier, starting from October 23.

MOSCOW, October 20. /TASS/: The Taliban movement (banned in Russia) has called on the international community to recognize Afghanistan’s interim government that they formed, Abdul Salam Hanafi, deputy prime minister of Afghanistan’s interim government, said at a regular round of talks on Afghanistan in Moscow on Wednesday.

NOVO-OGAREVO, October 20. /TASS/: Russia is not interested in the endless growth of energy prices, including gas, but this takes place beyond Moscow’s control, President Vladimir Putin said at the meeting with Cabinet members on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Russia increased pressure on the Taliban on Wednesday to create an inclusive government representing a broad spectrum of Afghan society, as it hosted their new administration at a major conference for the first time since they took power.

Pakistan, China, Iran, India and former Soviet Central Asian states joined Taliban officials at the Moscow meeting. The United States stayed away, citing technical reasons.

MOSCOW, Oct. 20 (Xinhua) -- Russian fighter jets on Wednesday escorted two U.S. strategic bombers over the neutral waters of the Black Sea, said the Russian Defense Ministry.

Russian radars detected aerial targets approaching the Russian border over the Black Sea, and two Su-30 fighters took off in response, the ministry said.

The Russian pilots identified the air targets as two U.S. Air Force B-1B strategic bombers and two KC-135 tanker planes, before escorting them away.

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday backed the Cabinet’s proposal to declare a non-working week and keep Russian workers away from their offices as coronavirus deaths surged to another daily record.

The government task force on Wednesday reported 1,028 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, the highest number since the start of the pandemic. That brought Russia’s total death toll to 226,353 which is by far the highest in Europe.

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/: Russia is ready to maintain dynamic and versatile military cooperation with Iran, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting with Chief of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces Mohammad Hossein Bagheri on Tuesday.

"Our relationships are developing very dynamically and are versatile, which can be vividly demonstrated by our large-scale joint fight against international terrorism. We are ready to continue making every effort to keep the pace of developing our relationships," the Russian defense chief said.

MOSCOW, October 19. /TASS/: The Americans are urging Moscow to boost gas supplies to Europe, while simultaneously opposing the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline project, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexei Overchuk said in a live broadcast of the Solovyov Live YouTube channel on Tuesday.

SIMFEROPOL, October 19. /TASS/: About 5,000 paratroopers of the Novorossiysk air assault formation went on alert and moved to training grounds in this year’s final inspection in Russia’s south, the Defense Ministry of Russia reported on Tuesday.

"Units of the Novorossiysk Guards Mountain Air Assault Formation went on alert and moved to practice ranges in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Regions and in the Republic of Crimea where they began accomplishing combat training assignments," the ministry said in a statement.