Europe

LISBON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa met here Friday with the College of European Commissioners led by European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to discuss the program and priorities of the Portuguese Presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU).

Costa said that the priority of the Portuguese presidency will be "economic recovery" to "ensure that all the instruments that were built become effective" and that the EU support funds reach the 27 member countries.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: The introduction of ‘immunity certificates’ due to the pandemic is on the table and the discussions are underway, Head of the Russian Federal Service for Surveillance on Consumer Rights Protection and Human Wellbeing Anna Popova said at the Gaidar Forum on Friday.

"We are definitely moving towards that. However, the question of form, the question of the absence or inadmissibility of discrimination of any of the vaccines, of any drug is a matter of today’s discussions," Popova said referring to the introduction of ‘immunity certificates.’

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: Russia expects that Czech authorities will take every measure possible to prevent any incidents similar to the one that took place near Ostrava and involved a monument to the Red Army soldiers, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing Friday.

"We resolutely condemn the outrageous acts of vandalism that took place on January 5 in the outskirts of the Czech city of Ostrava against the monument to the Red Army soldiers, who liberated this region in April 1945," she noted.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: Russian blogger Ilya Varlamov has informed that all Russians detained in South Sudan’s Juba have been freed and are waiting for their flight to return home.

"Everyone is freed," he wrote on Telegram without adding any details. "All that is left now is to leave this fantastic place."

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: Russia is aware that threats of deterioration in the relations with the United States still remain, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova told a briefing Friday, commenting on the post published by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Twitter.

MOSCOW, January 15. /TASS/: Russia is launching domestic procedures to withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

"Given the lack of progress in efforts to remove obstacles preventing the future functioning of the treaty in a new situation, the Russian Foreign Ministry is entitled to announce the start of domestic procedures to pave the way for Russia’s withdrawal from the Treaty on Open Skies," the statement reads. "Once the procedures are completed, notifications will be sent to the treaty depositories," the ministry added.

14 Jan 2021; MEMO: Yemen's Houthi movement will not walk away from peace talks with the United Nations and Saudi Arabia despite the US decision to designate the Iran-aligned group as a foreign terrorist organisation, the Houthi chief negotiator told Reuters.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has said the designation, which will trigger sanctions against the movement and three of its leaders, will come into effect on Jan. 19 at the end of the Trump administration's term.

14 Jan 2021; MEMO: The US decision to declare Houthis rebels, who fought the central government in Yemen's civil, a "terrorist organisation" could negatively affect the political process, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Thursday, Anadolu Agency reported.

Lavrov said he hopes the move does not affect the political settlement in Yemen and he welcomed the formation of a new government in Yemen.

14 Jan 2021; MEMO: Saudi Arabia's Foreign Minister Faisal bin Farhan on Thursday denounced Iran's "interventions" in the Middle East region, after a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, Reuters reports.

Speaking at a joint news conference in Moscow with Lavrov, broadcast on Saudi TV, the Saudi minister said Tehran's proxy militias were obstructing a solution for the war in Syria.

14 Jan 2021; MEMO: Russian oil giant Gazprom has resumed talks with the Saudi Arabian chemical manufacturer SABIC over the latter's co-investment in building a gas chemical complex in Serbia's northwestern peninsula of Yamal.