Europe

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin says that as head of state, he is obligated to stay connected 24/7.

"The head of state always has to stay connected, all the time, round the clock. It is just an obligation," the Russian leader said in an interview for the documentary Russia. Kremlin. Putin, a segment of which TV host Pavel Zarubin published on Instagram.

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/: Chairman of the Russian Federation Council’s Foreign Affairs Committee Konstantin Kosachev has told French senators that Russian citizens could be deprived of their right to travel in the European Union and asked the counterparts to pay attention to the issue of granting Schengen visas.

BERLIN, June 19. /TASS/: The course of the implementation of the Minsk agreements on settling the conflict in Ukraine makes it impossible to lift the European Union’s anti-Russian sanctions, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday after a videoconference meeting of the EU heads of state and government.

"Progress [in the implementation of the Minsk agreements] is not such that we can recommend not to extend the sanctions against Russia," she said. "So, we in the European Council decided today to extend the sanctions for six more months."

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS: Russia’s Defense Ministry is taking all necessary epidemiological safety measures during preparations for the Victory Parade on Moscow’s Red Square on June 24 devoted to the 75th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory over Nazi Germany in the 1941-1945 Great Patriotic War, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday.

"The Defense Ministry is taking all necessary epidemiological safety measures in the course of preparing for and holding the parade," Peskov said.

MOSCOW, June 19. /TASS/: Kremlin considers apprehension of Belarusian presidential candidate and Belgazprombank ex-CEO Viktor Babariko an internal affair of Belarus.

"We consider it Belarus’s internal affair and, of course, we have no intention to meddle in Belarusian internal affairs in any way," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Friday.

"As for the [Belarusian] election themselves, there will most likely be observers, so all assessment will come later, after it is over," Kremlin spokesman said.

TASS, June 19: India’s air forces are planning to order 21 Mig-29 supersonic fighter jets from Russia, the Economic Times newspaper reported Friday, citing military sources.

BRUSSELS, June 19. /TASS/: Heads of state and government of the European Union made a political decision at the online summit to extend economic sanctions against Russia due to expire on July 31 for six months, a source in one of the delegations told TASS on Friday.

"The leaders agreed to extend sanctions for six months more," the source said.

The European Union introduced sanctions against Russia in view of developments in Ukraine and reunification of Crimea and Russia in 2014. Restrictions were repeatedly expanded since then.

LONDON/CARACAS (Reuters) - In the vaults beneath the Bank of England, where foreign nations stash parts of their vast gold reserves, lie 1.7 billion euros ($1.9 billion) of disputed gold bars. Two parties claim access to them.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro says they belong to his administration’s central bank. His rival, opposition leader Juan Guaido, who the British government recognizes as Venezuela’s rightful leader, say the bars are his to control.

GENEVA (Reuters) - Any new national security laws imposed on Hong Kong “must fully comply with China’s human rights obligations” and international treaties protecting civil and political freedoms, the top U.N. human rights official said on Friday.

The draft legislation specifies the definition of four crimes and sets out punishments: separatist activity, state subversion, terrorist activity, and collusion with foreign forces, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Thursday.

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose to above $42 a barrel on Friday, adding to gains in the previous session, after OPEC producers and allies promised to meet supply cuts and signs of demand, hit by the coronavirus crisis, recovering.

Iraq and Kazakhstan, during a meeting of an OPEC+ panel on Thursday, pledged to comply better with oil cuts, sources said. This means curbs by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies, known as OPEC+, could deepen in July.