Europe

BRUSSELS, February 5. /TASS/. The growing risk of an accidental nuclear war is the main threat stemming from the looming demise of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty), a diplomat from one of the European countries’ missions to NATO told TASS on Tuesday.

"A new arms race is not the main consequence of the INF Treaty’s demise. The growing risk of an accidental nuclear war is the real threat," he said.

MOSCOW, February 5. /TASS/. Diplomats from the US embassy in Moscow have visited Paul Whelan, an American charged with espionage in Russia, embassy spokesperson Andrea Kalan told TASS on Tuesday.

"I can confirm that US Embassy representatives visited Paul Whelan at the Lefortovo detention facility today," she said.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. Underwater trials of a power unit of Russia’s nuclear-powered and nuclear-armed unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) Poseidon confirmed its previously declared unlimited range and maximum speed of over 200 kmph, a Russian defense industry source has told TASS.

"During the at-sea trials of the unmanned vehicle’s power unit, the previously declared specifications of its unlimited range of use and speed of over 200 kmph were confirmed," the source said.

ROME, February 6. /TASS/. Vatican is ready to mediate the Venezuelan crisis if it receives requests from both sides, Pope Francis said during a news briefing aboard the papal plane flying from the United Arab Emirates to Rome, Italy’s ANSA news agency has reported.

When asked about a letter sent to him by Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, the pontiff admitted not reading it yet.

"We’ll see what can be done," he said, adding that he viewed the Holy See’s mediation as a last resort, when all other means of settling the crisis have proven to be futile.

ATHENS, February 6. /TASS/. Greece is willing to expand its economic cooperation with Turkey and play a more active role in implementing the TurkStream pipeline project, Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras said told reporters after meeting with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. Russia has successfully test-fired an RS-24 Yars intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) from the Plesetsk spaceport in the Arkhangelsk Region in the country’s north, the Defense Ministry reported on Wednesday.

MOSCOW, February 6. /TASS/. The government does not practice media censorship in Russia, and regarding the curtailment of foreign ownership of media outlets, this is a universal practice, which is appropriate and legitimate, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the Media Day forum organized by the Kommersant publishing house.

06 Feb 2019; AFP: The EU's powerful anti-trust sheriff, Margrethe Vestager, is set to veto the merger of the Siemens-Alstom rail businesses on Wednesday, in defiance of France and Germany.

The tie-up, announced to great fanfare last year, was hailed as the birth of a much needed European industrial champion, an Airbus for the railways to face down a formidable Chinese rival.

LONDON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May told business leaders in Belfast Tuesday she backs the idea of Britain and the Irish Republic co-hosting the FIFA World Cup in 2030.

May raised the prospect of the World Cup returning to Britain for the first time since 1966 during a visit to Northern Ireland.

LONDON, Feb. 5 (Xinhua) -- British Prime Minister Theresa May will travel to Brussels on Thursday to meet European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker for further talks on Brexit concessions despite repeated public statements by the European Union that the Brexit deal reached earlier by London and Brussels will not be renegotiated.