Europe

MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/: The Russian Pacific Fleet’s ships and vessels have completed their deployment in the Pacific for drills, Commander of the Pacific Fleet’s Primorye Flotilla of All-Arms Forces Rear Admiral Konstantin Kabantsov announced on Sunday.

"The Pacific Fleet’s ships and vessels have completed their deployment in the area of an operational exercise and have started accomplishing tasks today under the scenario of tactical maneuvers as part of the Pacific Fleet’s distant maritime zone taskforce," the commander said.

YEREVAN, June 13. /TASS/: The Armenian authorities handed over only a fraction of the maps with minefields that passed over to Baku’s control and are ready for further discussions, acting Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan said in a speech broadcast on his Facebook on Sunday.

"Some opposition circles have started to claim that minefield maps have been transferred to Azerbaijan and that the return of all our prisoners-of-war could have been ensured," the acting prime minister said in the town of Yeghvard in the Kotyak province in central Armenia.

MOSCOW, June 13. /TASS/: New confirmed coronavirus cases in Russia grew by 14,723 in the past 24 hours, registering a 50% increase since the start of the week and a new high since February 13, the federal anti-coronavirus crisis center reported on Sunday.

The coronavirus growth rate equaled 0.28%. Overall, 5,208,687 people have been infected with the novel coronavirus in Russia since the start of the pandemic, the latest data show.

A day before, Russia registered a new high of 13,510 coronavirus cases since February 15.

LONDON, June 13. /TASS/: G7 leaders have urged Belarusian authorities to hold "new free and fair elections," according to the final communique approved on Sunday after the three-day summit of leaders of the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, the US, France and Japan in the seaside resort of Carbis Bay in Cornwall, UK.

(Reuters) --- German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Sunday said she hoped that a new Group of Seven task force can present first infrastructure projects in developing countries in 2022.

The world's seven most advanced economies signalled during the summit a desire to build a rival to China's multitrillion-dollar Belt and Road initiative.

(Reuters) --- Germany must increase military spending and take on a greater share of military burdens within NATO, the conservative candidate to succeed Angela Merkel as chancellor said in a newspaper interview on Sunday.

Heads of state within the 30-nation North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will meet in Brussels on Monday and discuss the path to follow against challenges such as China, Russia and cyber threats.

(Reuters) --- Western democracies are in a race to compete with autocratic governments, U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday.

"We're in a contest, not with China per se, ... with autocrats, autocratic governments around the world, as to whether or not democracies can compete with them in a rapidly changing 21st century," Biden told a news conference at the conclusion of a Group of Seven leaders' summit in Britain.

On China specifically, Biden said: "I think you're gonna see just straightforward dealing with China.

(Reuters) --- U.S. President Joe Biden said on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin was correct to say that relations between their two nations were at their lowest point in years.

"Let me make it clear I think he's right it's a low point, and it depends on how he responds to acting consistent with international norms, which in many cases he has not," Biden told reporters at the conclusion of a Group of Seven leaders' summit in Britain.

(Reuters) --- South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has urged the Group of Seven countries to help finance the World Health Organization’s programme to boost COVID-19 testing, diagnostics and vaccines, the presidency said on Sunday.

Ramaphosa, who has joined a summit of the club of rich democracies in England and addressed them on Saturday, said the G7 countries, which together account for more than half of global output, should support the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator to plug the $16.8 billion funding gap for this year.

(Reuters) --- Thousands of Spaniards protested in Madrid on Sunday against government plans to pardon 12 Catalan politicians who were convicted over the region’s failed independence bid in 2017, a move the demonstrators see as a threat to national unity.

Spain's Deputy Prime Minister Carmen Calvo gave the clearest indication yet that the pardons of the Catalan separatists were "close" in an interview published on Sunday with La Vanguardia newspaper, but the issue has bitterly divided Spaniards.