Europe

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: The risk of a military standoff between Kosovo and Serbia remains, but Pristina’s decision, made as a result of international efforts, to postpone till September 1 the procedure of enforcing a ban on Serbian documents opens a window of opportunity to step up diplomatic efforts capable of preventing a direct military confrontation.

MOSCOW, August 1. /TASS/: Anti-Russian sanctions do not reflect the realities of global politics and the economy, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday at a meeting with representatives of the metal industry.

"I have already said that these decisions were made by Western countries for the sake of political interests - the current, opportunistic ones that do not reflect the realities either in global politics or the global economy," he said.

MOSCOW, Aug 1 (NNN-TASS) – The Russian Armed Forces will obtain Zircon hypersonic missile systems, in the coming months, Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday.

“The capabilities of the Navy … are constantly improving. Suffice it to mention the latest Zircon hypersonic missile systems, which are unstoppable and have no analogues in the world. Dear comrades, their delivery to the Russian Armed Forces will begin in the coming months,” Putin said during the Navy Day parade.

MOSCOW, Aug 1 (Reuters) - A Russian foreign ministry source expressed puzzlement on Monday about a proposal from U.S. President Joe Biden to negotiate a new nuclear arms control framework to replace the New START Treaty when it expires in 2026.

Biden said in a statement on Monday that his administration was ready to "expeditiously" negotiate a new framework but that Russia should demonstrate that it is ready to resume work on nuclear arms control with the United States.

Aug 1 (Reuters) - Ukraine has received more German and U.S.-made multiple rocket launcher systems, part of a series of deliveries of the high-precision heavy weapons promised by its allies, its defence minister said on Monday.

The government in Kyiv has repeatedly pleaded with the West to send more long-range artillery as it tries to turn the tide on Russia's Feb. 24 invasion and attack Russian supply lines and ammo dumps.

LONDON, Aug 1 (Reuters) - Anatoly Chubais, the former privatisation tsar of post-Soviet Russia who quit his post as a Kremlin special envoy due to the war in Ukraine, is in intensive care in Europe with a rare immune disorder, two sources close to Chubais told Reuters.

Chubais, 67, believes he is suffering from Guillain–Barre syndrome, a disease caused by the immune system damaging the peripheral nervous system, said the sources.

"He thinks it's a disease," the first source told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "Doctors say they found it in time."

ZUPCE, Kosovo, Aug 1 (Reuters) - NATO-led peacekeepers backed by helicopters on Monday oversaw the removal of roadblocks protesters had set up in north Kosovo, where political tensions have flared more than two decades since a crisis that ended with NATO airstrikes.

The removal of the barricades came after the Kosovo government postponed the implementation of a decision that would oblige ethnic Serbs, who are a majority in the north, to apply for documents and car license plates issued by Kosovan institutions.

KIEV, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Ukraine has received 500 million euros (about 512 million U.S. dollars) as the first tranche of financial assistance from the European Union (EU), Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said on Monday.

"We are grateful to the European Union for such a contribution. It is a significant investment in our common economic and financial stability and secure future," Shmyhal wrote on Telegram.

He said that his country will get another tranche of aid worth 500 million euros on Tuesday.

VIENNA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Haitham Al-Ghais of Kuwait on Monday assumed office as the new secretary general of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC).

He succeeded the late OPEC chief Mohammad Barkindo, who died in early July.

Al-Ghais was appointed as the new chief of the Vienna-headquartered OPEC in January this year, and his tenure will last for three years.

SOFIA, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Bulgarian President Rumen Radev has signed a decree, setting the date of the new parliamentary election on Oct. 2, his press office said on Monday.

Radev dissolved, through the same decree, the current National Assembly with effect from Tuesday, the press office said.

It said the president also appointed Galab Donev as caretaker prime minister. The tasks and priorities of the caretaker government will be announced when it takes office on Tuesday.