Europe

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: Slowdown of global economic growth resulted in a certain drop in Russian exports, Minister of Economic Development Maxim Oreshkin said on Monday in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV Channel on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank meeting.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: All modern global conflicts must be resolved in line with the resolutions of the UN Security Council, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said during a convention of the Russian International Studies Association at the Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister of Bulgaria Ekaterina Zakharieva regrets that Sofia failed to sign a program of cooperation with Moscow in the spheres of culture and education.

"I do regret that we did not manage to sign the program of cooperation in the spheres of education and culture. <...> We hope that the specified agreement will be ready for signing next year," she said at a joint news conference following negotiations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: The United Nations will continue to exist despite global political turbulences because it is an organization that determines the ways of international development, head of Russia’s Diplomatic Academy Alexander Yakovenko said, addressing the opening ceremony of the 12th Russian International Studies Association (RISA) Convention hosted by Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO).

"The UN will certainly resist all global political difficulties," Yakovenko claimed.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: Russian President Vladimir Putin has congratulated Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his 70th birthday during a phone call. Putin and Netanyahu discussed the situation in Syria and current bilateral issues, the Kremlin press service informed on Monday.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: Almaz-Antey Group has delivered the second regiment set of S-400 ‘Triumf’ long-range anti-aircraft missile systems to the Defense Ministry ahead of schedule, the company’s press office reported on Monday.

"Almaz-Antey Group has transferred the second regiment set of S-400 ‘Triumf’ surface-to-air missile systems to the Defense Ministry of Russia this year. The delivery ceremony took place at the Kapustin Yar training range in the Astrakhan Region," the press office said in a statement.

MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/: The Project 22350 first serial-produced frigate Admiral Kasatonov armed with Kalibr cruise missiles has entered state trials, the press office of the Severnaya Shipyard reported on Monday.

GORKI, October 21. /TASS/: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev noted that foreign investors do not lose interest in the Russian Federation, despite the sanctions.

"The interest in Russia as a whole has not weakened. On the contrary, even after the introduction of various sanctions, the volume of investments under the FIAC [Foreign Investment Advisory Council] continued to grow," the Prime Minister told the meeting of the FIAC.

According to him, "over the past five years, which was a difficult period, the volume of investment has increased by almost 50%."

MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian nuclear submarine aborted the test firing of an intercontinental ballistic missile during a military exercise overseen by President Vladimir Putin last week, the Ministry of Defence said on Monday.

The nuclear submarine, K-44 Ryazan, part of Russia’s Pacific Fleet, was meant to launch two R-29R ballistic missiles from the Sea of Okhotsk on Oct. 17, but fired only one successfully with the other remaining in its tube onboard the submarine, the Vedomosti daily reported earlier on Monday.

BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s foreign minister said he hoped British lawmakers would vote on Monday to proceed with an orderly Brexit, adding that he could imagine a short extension to Britain’s departure from the European Union if London needed the time to pass legislation.

“I hope that the British lower house, showing the necessary responsibility, can take a decision on this today and that on the basis of this decision we will be in a position to achieve an orderly Brexit,” Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said in Berlin.