Europe

MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/: Moscow will not accept a price cap on Russian oil, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

"We are assessing the situation. Certain preparations for such a cap were made. We won’t accept the price cap and we will inform you how the work will be organized once the assessment is over," the Kremlin spokesman said, commenting on the EU’s decision.

On Friday, European Union countries agreed to cap the price of Russian seaborne oil at $60 a barrel. Members of the G7 group and Australia announced similar measures.

MOSCOW, December 3. /TASS/: Russian businessman Mikhail Fridman was detained in London on Saturday and later released on bail, a source close to the businessman told TASS.

"Fridman was detained by police. However, as far as we know, he was released on bail for the time being," the source said, adding that he did not have any more information, including about the reasons behind Fridman’s detention. The source also said that another person "carrying some cash" had been detained together with Fridman and was now being questioned by police.

MINSK, December 3. /TASS/: Allied relations between Moscow and Minsk have special importance amid unprecedented pressure from the West, Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said at a meeting with his Belarusian counterpart Viktor Khrenin on Saturday.

"Belarus has been and remains our reliable partner. It is particularly important today, amid unprecedented pressure from the collective West and an undeclared war against our countries," Shoigu pointed out.

Chisinau, Dec 3 (Reuters) - Moldovan Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Spinu announced an energy deal on Saturday he said would reduce the risk of large-scale electricity outages in the former Soviet republic.

Spinu said state utilities firm Energocom would purchase enough electricity from the country's largest power station to cover all of Moldova's needs for December when combined with existing imports from Romania.

PARIS, Dec 3 (Reuters) - The West should consider how to address Russia's need for security guarantees if President Vladimir Putin agrees to negotiations about ending the war in Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron said in remarks broadcast on Saturday.

In an interview with French TV station TF1 recorded during his state visit to the United States last week, Macron said Europe needs to prepare its future security architecture.

Dec 3 (Reuters) - Russia "will not accept" a price cap on its oil and is analysing how to respond, the Kremlin said in comments reported on Saturday, in response to a deal by Western powers aimed at limiting a key source of funding for its war in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had made preparations for Friday's price cap announcement by the Group of Seven nations, the European Union and Australia, the Russian state news agency TASS reported.

VLADIVOSTOK, Russia, Dec. 3 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese language is gaining more popularity in Russia's Far East as more young Russians are taking Chinese lessons, Liu Congying, director of the Confucius Institute of the Russian Far Eastern Federal University, has said.

"The demand for Chinese-speaking talents is growing quickly in the fields of economy, science and technology," Liu said at a Chinese language learning-related event on Thursday, highlighting a 50 percent jump in the number of students enrolled at the Confucius Institute by November from a year ago.

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/: The national team of Uruguay defeated Ghana 2-0 on Friday night in their group stage match of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.

The match was played at the over 44,325-seat capacity Al Janoub Stadium in the city of Al Wakrah.

The score in the match was opened by Uruguay’s attacking midfielder Giorgian de Arrascaeta in the 26th minute of the game. Less than seven minutes after that goal de Arrascaeta put another ball in the net of the national team of Ghana (in the 32nd minute).

MOSCOW, December 2. /TASS/: The explosions on the Crimean Bridge and on Nord Stream pipelines are akin to one another since both are acts of terrorism, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS this Friday.

This is how Peskov explained these emergencies, saying they went side by side in the Kremlin’s statement after a conversation between Russian President Vladimir Putin and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

"Both are categorized as terrorist acts," the Kremlin Spokesman said.

MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/: Fifty Russian soldiers facing mortal danger in captivity have returned from Kiev-controlled areas as a result of negotiations, Russia’s Defense Ministry announced on Thursday.

"On December 1 this year, 50 Russian servicemen who faced mortal danger in captivity have been brought back from the territory controlled by the Kiev regime as a result of the negotiating process," the ministry said in a statement.